Lehmann, Lotte (1888-1976)

Lehmann, Lotte

OPERA SINGER, DIRECTOR, WRITER (GERMANY)

BORN 27 Feb 1888, Perleberg, Brandenburg (near Berlin) - DIED 26 Aug 1976, Santa Barbara, California
BIRTH NAME Lehmann, Charlotte
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 32 C, Nummer 49)

Lotte Lehmann studied in Berlin under Mathilda Mallinger. She debuted in 1910 in Wagner's "Lohengrin" at the opera in Hamburg. In 1914 she was Mathilda in Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at the Court Opera in Vienna. In 1916 she became a member of the cast of the State Opera (the new name of the Court Opera). She sang in several premieres of opera's by Richard Strauss. In 1926 she married Otto Krause after an affair of two years and she became stepmother to his children. The marriage wasn't happy, because her love for him seems to have disappeared soon after the wedding and he financially drained her.

From 1924 to 1935 she performed frequently at Covent Garden in London and from 1926 to 1937 she appeared at the Festspiele in Salzburg, where she worked with Toscanini. In 1936 she discovered the Trapp family in Salzburg, who are now known from the musical "The Sound of Music".

She toured Australia in 1937. She emigrated fo the USA before Germany annexed Austria because herstepchildren who had a Jewish mother. When Otto Krause was dying in 1939 trains were held to enable her to reach his bedside in time. He died 45 minutes before she arrived after travelling 3,000 miles, after being unable to transfer to a plane in Chicago because of the weather conditions. During her life she had affairs with men as well as women.

In the USA she sang at the Opera of San Fransisco and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1951 she retired from the stage and worked as a teacher at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. She was the author of poems, a novel , memoirs and works on music. After she retired she painted as well.

From 1938 until Lotte's death Frances Holden (1889-1996), was her companion. Both Lotte and Frances claimed that their relationship was never physical. In 1976 Lotte died in Santa Barbara.

Related persons
• was pupil of Mallinger, Mathilda
• cooperated with Walter, Bruno

Events