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Elisabeth Schilz Grümmer (March 31, 1911 – November 6, 1986) was a German operatic lyric soprano.

She was born at Niederjeutz, near Diedenhofen, Alsace-Lorraine (later Yutz-Basse; now Thionville, France) to German parents. In 1918, her family were expelled from Lorraine, and they settled in Meiningen, where she studied theater and made her stage debut as Klärchen in Goethe's Egmont.

She married the concertmaster of the theater orchestra, Detlev Grümmer, and became a mother. The family moved to Aachen, where they met Herbert von Karajan. Elisabeth started to take singing lessons, von Karajan cast her as the first flower maiden in a performance of Wagner's Parsifal. She went on to perform in Duisburg and Prague.

Her husband was killed in a bombing in the war. After the war, she settled in Berlin, singing at the Städische Oper Berlin. She performed in all the major opera houses in Europe and the United States, restricting herself to a small number of roles, primarily sung in German. She was also active in song recitals and concert performances, particularly of Brahms' German Requiem.

The Kammersängerin became a professor at the Berlin Musikhochschule.

She died in Warendorf, Westphalia.

A recollection: http://oberon481.typepad.com/oberons_grove/2008/08/waiting-for-elisabeth-grummer.html

Discography

(The dates listed for the items are those of the CD releases, not of the original recordings)

Operas

• "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss (live recording Munich 1952: Octavian), conductor Erich Kleiber, MYTO CD-Album (2007)
• "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss (live recording Berlin 1959: Marschallin), conductor Sylvio Varviso, Gala CD-Album (2005)
• "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss, conductor Wilhelm Schüchter,(Octavian, highlights) EMICLASSICS 8264302 CD-Album (2000)
• "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, EMI CLASSICS 5674192 2CD-Album (2000)
• "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber, conductor Joseph Keilberth, EMI CLASSICS 2CD-Album (2008)
• "Der Freischütz" by Carl Maria von Weber, conductor Erich Kleiber, live radio performance 1955, Opera D'oro 2CD-Album (1998)
• "Lohengrin" by Richard Wagner, conductor Rudolf Kempe, EMI CLASSICS 567415 3CD-Album
• "Hänsel und Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck, conductor Herbert von Karajan, EMICLASSICS 5670612 2CD-Album (1999)
• "Hänsel und Gretel" by Engelbert Humperdinck, conductor Hermann Weigert, live radio performance 1956, Ponto 2CD-Album (2004)
• "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, EMI CLASSICS 7638602 3CD-Album (1991)
• "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos, live recording 1956, Sony 3CD-Album (1994)
• "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Wolfgang Sawallisch, live recording in German 1960, Deutsche Grammophon (Universal) 3CD-Album (2009)
• "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Hans Zanotelli, highlights in German 1960,EMI CDZ 25 2217 2.
• "Die Hochzeit des Figaro" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, RELIEF B0001M64VQ 2CD-Album (2004)
• "Die Zauberflöte" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Georg Solti, GALA 2CD-Album (2004)
• "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg"by Richard Wagner, conductor Rudolf Kempe, EMI 3CD-Album (1992)
• "Tannhäuser"by Richard Wagner, conductor Franz Konwitschny, EMI 3CD-Album (2000)

Sacred Music

• "Matthäus-Passion" BWV 244 by Johann Sebastian Bach, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, EMICLASSICS 5655092 2CD-Album (1995)
• "Johannes-Passion" BWV 245 by Johann Sebastian Bach, conductor Karl Forster, EMICLASSICS 7642342 2CD-Album (1992)
• "Kantaten - Cantatas" by Johann Sebastian Bach, conductor Kurt Thomas, BERLINCLASSICS B000024WMM CD (1996)
• "Bach MADE IN GERMANY" Vol. II Kantaten, Motetten, Weihnachtsoratorium, conductor Kurt Thomas, BERLINCLASSICS B000031W6B 8CD-Album (1999)
• "Die Schöpfung" by Joseph Haydn, conductor Karl Forster, EMI 2 CD-Album (1989)

Lieder

• "Elisabeth Grümmer, Lieder by Schubert, Brahms, Grieg und Verdi", conductor Hugo Diez and Richard Kraus, TESTAMENT B000003XJQ (1996)
• "Elisabeth Grümmer, Liederabend, Lieder by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Schoeck, Wolf", ORFEO 506001B CD (2000)
• "Recital 1970, Lieder by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Reger, Schubert, Schumann, Strauss, Wolf", Dirigent Richard Kraus, GALA B000028CLY 2CD-Album (2001)

Video

• "Don Giovanni" by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, Deutsche Grammophon 073 019-9 DVD-Video (2001)

• "Don Giovanni" by Mozart, sung in German translation, conductor Ferenc Fricsay, Deutsche Oper Berlin September 24, 1961, with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Josef Greindl,Legato Classics LCV 022

Bibliography

• The Last Prima Donnas, by Lanfranco Rasponi, Alfred A Knopf, 1982. ISBN 0-394-52153-6

External links

• Elisabeth Grümmer