Frida Leider (18 April 1888 – 4 June 1975) was a German operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. Leider was a dramatic

. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Opus number, Op. 72, is the sole opera by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of ...

, Mozart's

Donna Anna ''Don Giovanni'' (; Köchel catalogue, K. 527; full title: , literally ''The rake (stock character), Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its ...

, and Verdi's

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...

and Leonora. She made over 80 recordings, mainly for

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

and

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

Life

Leider was born in Berlin, where she studied singing while working in a bank. Her first engagements led her to

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

s in Halle,

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, and

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. After an engagement with the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: ) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''Generalmusikdirektor'' ...

in 1923, she was hired by the

Berlin State Opera The Staatsoper Unter den Linden ( State Opera under the Lime Trees), also known as the Berlin State Opera (), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of P ...

as first dramatic soprano. After her retirement from the stage in 1946, she remained there as the director and manager of a studio for the rising singers of the Berlin State Opera. Leider made regular guest appearances for over 15 years at the

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

in London, at the

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

in New York, at

La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, and at the State Operas of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. She also made appearances at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

in the 1930s. In the 1920s, she alternated Wagnerian roles with Florence Austral at Covent Garden and the two recorded large parts of '' The Ring'' for

Leider married the first concert master of the Berlin State Opera, Rudolf Deman. The couple had no children. She died in her home city of Berlin. Today the singer's estate is managed by th
Frida-Leider-Gesellschaft
which is located in Berlin.

Autobiography

Leider's autobiography, ''Playing My Part'', was translated into English by Charles Osborne, and published in London by Calder and Boyars in 1966.

References

*The information in this article is based on a translation of its German equivalent. Further reading * Liese, Kirsten, ''Wagnerian Heroines: a century of great Isoldes and Brünnhildes'', English translation: Charles Scribner, Edition Karo, Berlin, 2013.

External links

*
Frida-Leider-Gesellschaft
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leider, Frida 1888 births 1975 deaths German operatic sopranos Singers from Berlin Musicians from the Province of Brandenburg Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German women opera singers