Country

:

Austria

Birth

:

April 26, 1925 in Vienna, Austria

Genre

:

Choral

 

 

Opera

 

Wilma Lipp was a renowned Austrian soprano who was born on April 26, 1925, in the city of St. Pölten, Austria. She was the daughter of a music teacher and grew up in a musical family. Her father was a choir director and her mother was a pianist. Lipp showed an early interest in music and began singing in her father's choir at the age of six. Lipp received her formal music education at the Vienna Music Academy, where she studied under the tutelage of the famous Austrian soprano, Maria Ivogün. She made her debut in 1943 at the Vienna State Opera as the First Flower Maiden in Richard Wagner's Parsifal. Her performance was well-received, and she was soon offered a contract with the Vienna State Opera. Lipp quickly established herself as one of the leading sopranos of her generation. She was known for her clear, bright voice and her ability to convey emotion through her singing. She was particularly renowned for her performances of Mozart's operas, and she became a regular performer at the Salzburg Festival. One of Lipp's most notable performances was in 1954, when she sang the role of the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Salzburg Festival. Her performance was widely praised, and it helped to establish her as one of the leading sopranos of her time. She went on to perform the role of the Queen of the Night over 200 times throughout her career. Lipp also had a successful career as a concert singer. She performed with many of the leading orchestras of her time, including the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the New York Philharmonic. She was particularly renowned for her performances of Gustav Mahler's symphonies, and she recorded several of them with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. In addition to her performances, Lipp was also a respected voice teacher. She taught at the Vienna Music Academy and the Salzburg Mozarteum, and many of her students went on to have successful careers as singers. Lipp received many awards and honors throughout her career. In 1955, she was awarded the title of Kammersängerin by the Austrian government, which is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a singer in Austria. She was also awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1974 and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art in 1985. Lipp retired from performing in 1979, but she continued to teach voice until her death in 2019 at the age of 94. She left behind a legacy as one of the greatest sopranos of the 20th century, and her recordings and performances continue to inspire and delight audiences around the world.

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