While Elisabeth Schwarzkopf is still world-renowned for her operatic brilliance, it has proved all too easy for her admirers to forget her passion for recital performance.
It was as a recitalist that Schwarzkopf made her U.S. debut in 1935, and she was a beloved figure on American recital stages until her New York farewell recital in 1975. Her final stage appearance was a Zurich lieder recital in 1979.
This according to “Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (December 9, 1915–August 3, 2006)” by Janet A. Choi and Oussama Zahr (Opera news LXXI/4 [October 2006] pp. 80–81).
Today would have been Schwarzkopf’s 100th birthday! Above, performing with Gerald Moore, one of her favorite accompanists; below, also with Moore, Richard Strauss’s Wiegenlied.
