Margarethe Bence
| Margarethe Bence | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 13, 1930 Kingston, New York, US |
| Died | April 1, 1992 (aged 61) Munich, Germany |
| Occupation |
|
| Organization | |
Margarethe Bence (August 13, 1930 – April 1, 1992) was an American opera singer, who sang both mezzo-soprano and contralto parts and was mostly active in German and Austria, including international festivals such as the Bayreuth Festival and the Salzburg Festival. Her repertoire included music from Baroque to contemporary premieres.
Born in Kingston, New York in a German-American family on August 13, 1930, Bence began her voice studies in the United States. She toured with the Robert Shaw Chorale from 1950 to 1953, when she continued her studies in Stuttgart. Her teachers included Res Fischer and Ellinor Junker-Giesen.
She appeared first in concert, especially in alto-parts of oratorios. In 1956 she joined the ensemble of the Württembergische Staatsoper, where she remained for 14 years. She studied a broad repertory, from Baroque to contemporary music, playing as both comic and tragic characters. She appeared as a guest artist, first in 1959 when the Stuttgart Opera performed Wagner's Parsifal at the Vienna State Opera. She was engaged there for Handel's Jephtha, with Fritz Wunderlich, and for Janáček's Jenůfa. In 1961, she appeared at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, which became one of her signature roles.
From 1962 she was invited to international festivals. She performed at the Bayreuth Festival, in 1962 as Rossweisse and Waltraute in Der Ring des Nibelungen, the next year also Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, and a small part in Parsifal. In 1965 she performed Rossweisse once more.
...
Wikipedia