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Ute Walther

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Ute Walther
High-contrast, black and white, three-quarter profile, video still of Walther in heavy stage makeup and costume.
Ute Walther, onstage in the 1980s
Born(1942-06-23)23 June 1942
Jena, Thuringia, Germany
Died6 June 2026(2026-06-06) (aged 83)
EducationMusikhochschule Berlin
OccupationOperatic mezzo-soprano
Organizations
TitleKammersängerin

Ute Walther (23 June 1942 – 6 June 2026) was a German operatic mezzo-soprano. She was a long-term member first of the Staatsoper Dresden, where she portrayed the title role of Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss in the opening performance of the restored Semperoper in February 1985, and then from 1986 to 2007 of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with international guest appearances, regularly at the Vienna State Opera.

Life and career

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Walther was born in Jena on 23 June 1942;[1][2] her mother was a singer, and her father a conductor.[2] Her father died in 1945.[1] She studied voice at the Musikhochschule Berlin with Alois Orth and Adelheid Müller-Hess. She made her stage debut in 1968 at the Staatstheater Schwerin in the title role of Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss. She moved on to the Volkstheater Rostock in 1974 where she remained until 1980.[2]

Walther was then engaged by the Staatsoper Dresden.[2] She appeared as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss in June 1982, directed by Joachim Herz and conducted by Siegfried Kurz,[3] followed by Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin in a new production directed by Christine Mielitz.[4] She portrayed the Rosenkavalier again in February 1985 in the opening performance of the restored Semperoper.[1][5] She performed as a guest at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, at the Edinburgh Festival in 1982 as the Composer and in Lisbon and Madrid.[1][2] In the 1983/84 season she performed at the Berlin State Opera several times.[6] In April 1985 Walther portrayed the Rosenkavalier at the Vienna State Opera, where she later appeared as the Composer, as Fricka in Wagner's Die Walküre and as Prinz Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss.[1][7] She participated in a tour of the company to Japan.[1] In 1985, she appeared in Dresden as Magdalene in a new production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted by Kurz.[8]

A few days after the Dresden premiere of Die Meistersinger, she left the GDR (East Germany).[2] From 1986 to her retirement in 2007, Walther was a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where Götz Friedrich was intendant.[9] She appeared there in more than 600 performances,[9][10] first as the Composer.[2][9][10] She appeared as Amneris in Verdi's Aida in 65 performances at the house.[9][10] The ensemble toured Japan in 1987 with Wagner's Ring cycle, with Walther as Fricka and Waltraute.[1] She took part, as Olga, in the world premiere of Reimann's Das Schloß in September 1992.[11] Her 1993 portrayal of Magdalene in Die Meistersinger was recorded on DVD in 1995; it was staged by Friedrich and conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, with Wolfgang Brendel as Sachs and Eike Wilm Schulte as Beckmesser.[12] In 2000 she portrayed Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde alongside René Kollo and Gabriele Schnaut in the title roles.[2] Later she turned towards character roles such as the Witch in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, the Kabanicha in Janáček's Káťa Kabanová and Herodias in Salome by R. Strauss.[9][10] She appeared as Duchess in Henze's Der Prinz von Homburg in 2001 and as Madelon in a new production of Giordano's Andrea Chénier in 2005.[13] Her last performance at the house was in December 2007, again as the Witch.[14]

She performed as a guest at the Grand Theatre, Warsaw, as Fricka and as Waltraute in 1989,[1] and as Brangäne at the Cologne Opera in 1990.[1] In 1997 she appeared as Ježibaba in Dvořák's Rusalka at the Komische Oper Berlin, staged by Mielitz.[15]

Walther also performed as a concert singer, known as an interpreter of Johann Sebastian Bach's music.[2] After her retirement, she returned to the stage in 2016 to play at the Renaissance Theater [de] in Berlin in Ronald Harwood's Quartetto, a play about four aging opera singers, alongside Karan Armstrong, Kollo and Victor von Halem.[9][16]

Walther recorded a live performance from the Semperoper of Der Rosenkavalier in 1985, Das Schloß,[1] and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, with Herbert Kegel conducting[1] the Dresden Philharmonic in 1987.[17] She recorded Magdalene in Die Meistersinger on DVD in 1995.[12] In the complete recording of the Ring cycle by Bernard Haitink with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, she took the role of Waltraute in Die Walküre, released in 1988.[18]

Walther died on 6 June 2026 after a long illness, at the age of 83.[9][10]

Roles

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Walther's roles included:[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kutsch, K. J.; Riemens, Leo (2012). "Walther, Ute". Großes Sängerlexikon (in German) (4th ed.). De Gruyter. pp. 4965–4966. ISBN 978-3-59-844088-5.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Novotny, Walter (June 2020). "Ute Walther wird 75". Online Merker (in German). Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  3. ^ Zöllner, Ivo (5 July 2022). "Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (1982 ff)". ivo-zoellner.de (in German). Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  4. ^ Zöllner, Ivo (5 July 2022). "Wagner: Lohengrin (1983 ff)". ivo-zoellner.de (in German). Archived from the original on 27 December 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  5. ^ Zöllner, Ivo (5 July 2022). "Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (1985 ff)". ivo-zoellner.de (in German). Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  6. ^ Staatsoper Berlin – Spielzeit 1983/84. Staatsoper Berlin. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  7. ^ Vorstellungen mit Ute Walther Archived 9 December 2025 at the Wayback Machine Vienna State Opera 1926. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  8. ^ Zöllner, Ivo (5 July 2022). "Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1985 ff)". ivo-zoellner.de (in German). Archived from the original on 7 October 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "The Deutsche Oper Berlin mourns the loss of Kammersängerin Ute Walther". Deutsche Oper Berlin. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  10. ^ a b c d e "Mezzo-Soprano Ute Walther has Died, Aged 80". Violin Channel. 11 June 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  11. ^ Sokolowski, Andre (16 May 2005). "Kafka lesen im Schnee". kultura-extra.de (in German). Archived from the original on 15 December 2025. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  12. ^ a b Levine, Robert (June 2004). "Wagner: Meistersinger/Burgos DVD". Classics Today (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  13. ^ "Andrea Chenier". kultura-extra.de (in German). Archived from the original on 5 March 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  14. ^ "Hänsel und Gretel". operabase.com (in German). 27 December 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  15. ^ Heinsen, Gerd (March 1997). "Die Nackte und die Roten". Orpheus (review) (in German). pp. 14–15.
  16. ^ "Quartetto – Ronald Harwoods Komödie über alternde Künstler am Berliner Renaissance-Theater von Torsten Fischer inszeniert". Nachtkritik (in German). Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  17. ^ "Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1–9". AllMusic. 2026. Retrieved 15 June 2026.
  18. ^ Forsling, Göran (July 2008). "Richard Wagner (1813–1883) / Der Ring des Nibelungen:". Classics Today (in German). Retrieved 15 June 2026.

Further reading

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