Edith Mathis (Swiss Standard German:[ˈeːdɪtˈmatɪs];[1] 11 February 1938 – 9 February 2025) was a Swiss soprano known for her roles in Mozart's operas. Early in her career, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro was her signature role that she performed at debuts at several opera houses and festivals in Europe. Later, she portrayed Susanna in the same opera, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She took part in premieres of operas, Henze's Der junge Lord and works by Gottfried von Einem, Menotti and Heinrich Sutermeister. Based at Deutsche Oper Berlin from 1963 to 1971, she was in demand internationally, also as a singer of Lied and in concert.
Edith Mathis was born in Lucerne on 11 February 1938.[2] She was determined from a young age to become a singer, inspired by listening to recordings and broadcasts with Renata Tebaldi and Maria Callas.[3] She studied voice at the Lucerne Conservatory with Elisabeth Bossart. She made her operatic debut at the Luzerner Theater [de] in 1956 as the Second Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.[3][4][5] Good reviews helped her get an invitation to perform as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro at the Opernhaus Zürich.[3] She continued gaining stage experience in Switzerland for the next three years. In 1959 she moved to the Cologne Opera,[6] where Wolfgang Sawallisch was then musical director.[3] Her roles there included Cherubino and Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni.[5]
She appeared regularly at the Salzburg Festival from 1960.[7] In the early 1960s she made frequent guest appearances, often as Cherubino, at the Hamburg State Opera in 1960, at the Vienna State Opera in 1962, and at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1963.[3][8] She became a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin that year,[9][10] and performed as Cherubino with the company in Tokyo.[3] She appeared in Berlin first as Zerlina, and was compared to Audrey Hepburn as she "embodied this ideal of girlish, at once high-spirited and vulnerable innocence visually, with large dark eyes, short dark hair and delicate appearance".[9] She portrayed other young women "with unaffected elegance":[9] Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Ännchen in Weber's Der Freischütz and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, the latter with "touching sadness".[9] She became a favourite with the audience, and remained at the house until 1971.[9]
She had guest contracts with Hamburg, Oper Frankfurt and the Bavarian State Opera.[3] Her first role in Munich was Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in 1970 as part of the opera festival. She returned regularly, also as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Marzelline in Beethoven's Fidelio, the Countess in Figaro, as Zdenka in Arabella by Richard Strauss, and as Mélisande in Debussy's Pelleas. She took part there, as Queen Marie, in the world premiere of Heinrich Sutermeister's Le roi Berénger after Ionesco in 1985.[7]
Between 1970 and 1972 she performed 25 times at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Marzelline in Fidelio, Ännchen in Der Freischütz and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.[3][14][15] She made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London in 1970.[16] In the 1970s she appeared in more major European opera houses including the Opéra de Paris.[2][16] She performed at the Vienna State Opera, after Cherubino, also as Zerlina in Don Giovanni between 1972 and 1985, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss, Susanna in Figaro between 1976 and 1986, and Pamina.[17] Throughout her career, Mathis remained within her lyric soprano range, expanding her repertoire by Agathe in Der Freischütz and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier.[3][17][18] She retired from the stage in 2001.[3][7]
In addition to her operatic career, Mathis made numerous international concert tours in Lieder recitals.[7] Singing Lieder, she was focused on the texts and their settings, serving the poet and the composer.[17] Mathis led a Lied class as a professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna from 1992 to 2006.[4][19] She gave master classes in Europe, Asia and the US.[7][10] One of her students was Diana Damrau.[20]
Mathis was married to conductor and pianist Bernhard Klee, with whom she often performed.[3][7] After they divorced, she lived with her second husband, the art collector Heinz Slunecko, in Salzburg.[7]
Mathis died in Salzburg on 9 February 2025, two days before her 87th birthday.[3][11][18]
Richard Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier, as Sophie, 1969, Großes Festspielhaus Salzburg (live), Wiener Philharmoniker, Choir of the Vienna State Opera, cond. Böhm. DG.[53]
Mathis made many recordings of Lied repertoire, by Mozart in 1973 with Bernhard Klee and in 1986 with Karl Engel,[54] by Schumann with Christoph Eschenbach,[55] also by Schubert,[56] Richard Strauss and Hugo Wolf.[3] She recorded Handel's Neun Deutsche Arien in 1966 with the Consortium Musicum[57] and arias by Haydn in 1981, conducted by Armin Jordan.[58]
^Andrew Porter, "Reports from Abroad: Berlin – Henze's New Opera" (June 1965). The Musical Times, 106 (1468): pp. 453–55.
^Kuntzsch, Matthias; Mathis, Edith; Menotti, Gian Carlo; Saunders, Arlene; Wolansky, Raymond; Workman, William; Hamburgische Staatsoper Ballett; Norddeutscher Rundfunk Kinderchor; Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg (2007), Help, help, the Globolinks! an opera for children and all those still young at heart! (in German), [Leipzig]: Arthaus-Musik, OCLC633560330
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Janowitz, Gundula; Mathis, Edith; Böhm, Karl; Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester (2008), The Shawshank Redemption : The Marriage of Figaro : Sull'aria (in no linguistic content), [S.l.]: [s.n.], OCLC1116969701
^Bach, Johann Sebastian; Mathis, Edith; Baker, Janet; Schreier, Peter; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Salminen, Matti; Richter, Karl; Münchener Bach-Chor; Münchener Bach-Orchester (1980), Matthäus-Passion : BWV 244 = St. Matthew Passion = Passion selon St. Matthieu (in German), Hamburg, Germany: Archiv Produktion, OCLC78681165
^Beethoven, Ludwig van; Sonnleithner, Joseph Ferdinand; Treitschke, Georg Friedrich; Jones, Gwyneth; Mathis, Edith; King, James; Schreier, Peter; Adam, Theo; Crass, Franz; Böhm, Karl; Bouilly, J. N.; Rundfunkchor Leipzig; Staatsoper Dresden Chor; Staatskapelle Dresden (2005), Fidelio (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC992988224
^Berlioz, Hector; Mathis, Edith; Burrows, Stuart; McIntyre, Donald; Ozawa, Seiji; Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von; Tanglewood Festival Chorus; Boston Boy Choir; Boston Symphony Orchestra (1988), La damnation de Faust (in French), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC986794710
^Brahms, Johannes; Mathis, Edith; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Barenboim, Daniel; Edinburgh Festival Chorus; London Philharmonic Orchestra (1972), Ein deutsches Requiem : op. 45, nach Worten der Heiligen Schrift, für Soli, Chor und Orchester ; Vier ernste Gesänge, op. 121 [für Bariton u. Klavier] (in German), [Germany]: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC3370968
^Brahms, Johannes; Mathis, Edith; Schreier, Peter; Engel, Karl; Kahl, Gernot; Jena, Günter; Norddeutscher Rundfunk Chor (1995), Deutsche Volkslieder ; Volks-Kinderlieder (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC700953921
^Brahms, Johannes; Fassbaender, Brigitte; Mathis, Edith; Schreier, Peter; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Engel, Karl; Sawallisch, Wolfgang (1983), Liebeslieder : op. 52, Walzer = Love songs = Chants d'amour ; Neue Liebeslieder : op. 65, Walzer = New love songs = Nouveaux chants d'amour ; Drei Quartette op. 64 = Vocal quartets = Quatuors vocaux (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC31270560
^Haydn, Joseph; Dorati, Antal; Rolfe Johnson, Anthony; Von Stade, Frederica; Mathis, Edith; Valentini-Terrani, Lucia; Alva, Luigi; Trimarchi, Domenico; Auger, Arleen; Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne; Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande (1978), Il mondo della luna : dramma giocoso, Philips, OCLC221250072
^Haydn, Joseph; Swieten, Gottfried van; Mathis, Edith; Baldin, Aldo; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Kraemer, Nicholas; Marriner, Neville; Milton, John; Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Chorus; Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields (1980), Die Schöpfung (in German), [Baarn]: Philips, OCLC7164858
^Haydn, Joseph; Swieten, Gottfried van; Mathis, Edith; Jerusalem, Siegfried; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Marriner, Neville; Thomson, James; Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Chorus; Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields (1981), Die Jahreszeiten (in German), Baarn, The Netherlands: Philips, OCLC13636725
^Haydn, Joseph; Araiza, Francisco; Dam, José van; Karajan, Herbert von; Mathis, Edith; Wiener Philharmoniker; Wiener Singverein (1983), Die Schöpfung, Hob. XXI, 2 The Creation = La création : No. 1-19 (in German), Hamburg: Polydor International, OCLC1026127365
^Mahler, Gustav (1967), Mahler: 10 Symphonies Rafael Kubelik (in undetermined language), OCLC874491845
^Mahler, Gustav; Bernstein, Leonard; Mathis, Edith; Wiener Philharmoniker (2007), Sinfonías nos. 4 y 5 Mahler (in multiple languages), Barcelona: Altaya, OCLC1026130635
^Mahler, Gustav; Mathis, Edith; Karajan, Herbert von; Ludwig, Christa; Fassbaender, Brigitte; Araiza, Francisco; Giulini, Carlo Maria; Berlins Filharmoniske Orkester (2001), Symphony 4 (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC872201070
^Da Ponte, Lorenzo; Wixell, Ingvar; Watson, Claire; Grist, Reri; Berry, Walter; Thaw, David; Kelemen, Zoltán; Bence, Margarethe; Mathis, Edith; Böhm, Karl; Rennert, Günther; Heinrich, Ludwig; Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de; Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker; TDK Mediactive (Firm); Salzburger Festspiele (2003), Figaros Hochzeit = Le nozze di Figaro = Le mariage de Figaro ; Marriage of Figaro : Oper in vier Akten (in Italian), Ratingen, Germany: TDK Mediactive, OCLC53897984
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Böhm, Karl; Prey, Hermann; Mathis, Edith; Janowitz, Gundula; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich; Troyanos, Tatiana; Deutsche Oper Berlin Orchester; Deutsche Oper Berlin Chor (2023), Le nozze di figaro (in Italian), Berlin: Deutsche Grammophon GmbH, OCLC1407118129
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Böhm, Karl; Mathis, Edith; Hamari, Julia; Ochman, Wies·law; Ridderbusch, Karl; Haselböck, Hans; Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker (1971), Requiem KV 626 (in undetermined language), Hamburg: Dt. Grammophon, OCLC165857192
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Da Ponte, Lorenzo; Milnes, Sherrill; Macurdy, John; Tomowa-Sintow, Anna; Schreier, Peter; Zylis-Gara, Teresa; Berry, Walter; Duesing, Dale; Mathis, Edith; Böhm, Karl; Wiener Philharmoniker; Wiener Staatsoper Chor (1978), Don Giovanni : dramma giocoso in due atti (in undetermined language), Hamburg: Dt. Grammophon, OCLC643475441
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Varesco, Giambattista; Mathis, Edith; Varady, Julia; Ochman, Wiesław; Schreier, Peter; Winkler, Hermann; Büchner, Eberhard; Vogel, Siegfried; Böhm, Karl; Rundfunkchor Leipzig; Staatskapelle Dresden, Idomeneo : K 366 (in Italian), [Hamburg]: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC1011525796
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Klee, Bernhard; Mathis, Edith; Otto, Hans; Staatskapelle Dresden (1979), Exsultate, jubilate KV 165 (in German), Germany: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC221905762
^Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Schikaneder, Emanuel; Dam, José van; Ott, Karin; Mathis, Edith; Araiza, Francisco; Hornik, Gottfried; Perry, Janet; Nicolai, Claudio; Kruse, Heinz; Tomowa-Sintow, Anna; Baltsa, Agnes; Schwarz, Hanna; Hagen-Groll, Walter; Karajan, Herbert von; Deutsche Oper Berlin Chor; Berliner Philharmoniker (1980), Die Zauberflöte KV 620; Oper in zwei Aufz (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC725760276
^Händel, Georg Friedrich; Adam, Theo; Finnilä, Birgit; Mackerras, Charles; Mathis, Edith; Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus; Schreier, Peter (Sänger); Rundfunkchor; Österreichischer Rundfunk (Wien). Symphonieorchester (1990), Der Messias, Hamburg: Polygram, OCLC633985308
^Nicolai, Otto; Mosenthal, S. H.; Mathis, Edith; Donath, Helen; Schwarz, Hanna; Schreier, Peter; Ludwig, Kurt; Mercker, Karl-Ernst; Weikl, Bernd; Dormoy, Claude; Moll, Kurt; Vogel, Siegfried; Klee, Bernhard; Shakespeare, William; Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin Chor; Staatskapelle Berlin (2009), Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (in German), Hong Kong: Naxos Digital Services/Berlin Classics, OCLC704903352
^Strauss, Richard; Bohm, Karl; Ludwig, Christa; Troyanos, Tatiana; Adam, Theo; Mathis, Edith; Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor; Wiener Philharmoniker (1994), Der Rosenkavalier, [Germany]: Deutsche Grammophon, OCLC969573556
^Mathis, Edith; Engel, Karl (2019), Edith Mathis – selected Lieder (in German), [Detmold]: Audite, OCLC1141160046
^Schumann, Robert; Eschenbach, Christoph; Mathis, Edith; Schreier, Peter; Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich (2010), Lieder (in German), Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon (Universal Music), OCLC935159204
^Schubert, Franz; Mathis, Edith; Johnson, Graham; University of York Department of Music (1994), The Hyperion Schubert editon 21 : Complete songs = Sämtliche Lieder = Mélodies intégrales, London: Hyperion, OCLC1055045320
^Händel, Georg Friedrich; Mathis, Edith; Schmidtmann, Friedrich; Noack, Valerie; Hucke, Helmut; Steinkopf, Otto; Neuhaus, Werner; Dombois, Eugen M.; Thoene, Walter; Naumann, Gerhard; Consortium Musicum (1963), Neun deutsche Arien (in German), Köln: EMI Electrola, OCLC179787325
^Haydn, Joseph; Jordan, Armin; Mathis, Edith; Orchestre de chambre (Lausanne) (1981), Arias Arien (in no linguistic content), [S.l.]: Philips, OCLC718477972
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