Delia Reinhardt (27 April 1892 – 6 October 1974) was a German operatic soprano.

Life

Born in

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a do ...

, Reinhardt was a student of

Ludwig Strakosch Ludwig Strakosch (1 November 1855 – 14 October 1919) was an Austrian operatic baritone. Life Born in Brünn, Strakosch, son of a sugar manufacturer, first took singing lessons with Therese Stolz in Berlin and Louise Reß in Vienna. He then m ...

and his wife Hedwig Schako at the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

in Frankfurt. She made her debut in Breslau in 1913 as a "messenger of peace" in ''

Rienzi ' (''Rienzi, the last of the tribunes''; WWV 49) is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name (1835). The title is commonly shortened to ''Rienzi ...

'' and stayed there until 1916. From 1916 to 1922/1923 she was at the

Bavarian State Opera The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

at the invitation of

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

. From 1922/1923 she was then at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in New York. There, she made her debut as "Sieglinde" in the ''Walküre'' and appeared in a total of ten great roles, among others as "Elisabeth" in ''Tannhäuser'', as "Agathe", as "Butterfly", as "Fiordiligi" and as "Gita" in Massent's ''

Le roi de Lahore ''Le roi de Lahore'' ("The king of Lahore") is an opera in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet. It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on 27 April 1877 in costumes designed by Eugène Lacoste and se ...

''. Returning to Europe, she was a member of the ensemble of the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

from 1924 to 1935. In 1929, she was the "Pamina" in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...

'' in the opening performance of the Staatsoper, which was reopened after a renovation, in the presence of the Reich President

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fr ...

. Guest performances took her to the London

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

(1924-29), to the opera houses of Copenhagen, Budapest, Amsterdam and Brussels, to Italian and Spanish theatres, to the

Städtische Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is a German opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. The resident building is the country's second largest opera house (after Munich's) and also home to the Berlin State Ballet. Since 2004, the De ...

. In 1931 she had a guest performance at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

in Buenos Aires in Wagner roles. For political reasons she could not perform in Germany after 1937. She lived in Berlin until the end of the Second World War, but lost her entire house there in a bombing raid and then went to Bavaria. Bruno Walter invited her to move her residence to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

. After Walter's death in 1962, she moved to

Dornach : ''Dornach is also a quarter of the French city of Mulhouse and the Scots name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands, and Dòrnach is the Gaelic name for Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands.'' Dornach ( Swiss German: ''Dornech'') is a municipalit ...

in Switzerland. After she had ended her career as a singer, she worked as an artist. Reinhardt was first married to the baritone Gustav Schützendorf (1883-1937) and in her second marriage to the conductor

Georges Sébastian Georges Sébastian (Budapest, August 17, 1903; April 12, 1989, La Hauteville) was a French conductor of Hungarian birth, particularly associated with Wagner and the post-romantic repertory ( Bruckner, Mahler, Richard Strauss). Born György Sebest ...

. Reinhardt died in

Arlesheim Arlesheim is a town and a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Its cathedral chapter seat, bishop's residence and cathedral (1681 / 1761) are listed as a heritage site of national significanc ...

near Basel at the age of 82.

Literature

K. J. Kutsch Karl-Josef Kutsch, also known as K. J. Kutsch, (born 11 May 1924) is a German physician and co-author with Leo Riemens of the '' Großes Sängerlexikon'', the standard reference for opera singers. Life and work Born in Gangelt, Kutsch studied ...

Leo Riemens Leonardus Antony Marinus Riemens (3 December 1910 – 3 April 1985) was a Dutch musicologist and cultural journalist. He wrote a book about Maria Callas, and together with Karl-Josef Kutsch began a reference book about opera singers in 1962, which ...

: ''

Großes Sängerlexikon ''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The fi ...

.'' Unchanged edition.

K. G. Saur K. G. Saur Verlag is a German publisher that specializes in reference information for libraries. The publishing house, founded by Karl Saur, is owned by Walter de Gruyter and is based in Munich. In 1987, K. G. Saur was acquired by Reed Interna ...

, Bern, 1993, second volume M–Z, p. 243;f., .

External links

*
Reinhardt (Schützendorf), Delia
on BMLO
Reinhardt Delia
on OPERISSIMO {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinhardt, Delia 1892 births 1974 deaths People from Elberfeld German operatic sopranos German women painters German emigrants to Switzerland German emigrants to the United States 20th-century German women opera singers 20th-century German painters 20th-century German women artists Musicians from Wuppertal