Marta Fuchs (1898 - 1974)

Biographical notes:

Born in Stuttgart, she studied in her home town, Munich and Milan. During the first five years, she devoted herself to concert work, as a contralto (!). She made her opera debut at the Opera House of Aachen in 1928, where she stayed until 1930. Among her roles were Octavian, Amneris, Azucena, Eboli and Ortrud. Subsequently, she was engaged by Fritz Busch at the Dresden Staatsoper who encouraged her to assume dramatic soprano roles. She sang a number of premieres in operas such as Wagner-Régeny’s Der Günstling and Die Bürger von Calais, Mark Lothar’s Münchhausen, Fried Walter’s Andreas Wolfius and Othmar Schoeck’s Das Schloss Dürande. She appeared as Kundry (1933 at Amsterdam and 1933 - 1937 at the Bayreuth Festival). She became the most important dramatic soprano at Bayreuth during the 1930s, succeeding Frida Leider as Brünnhilde and sharing Isolde with her. Her repertory also included Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Gluck’s Alceste and the two Iphigenies, Adriano in Rienzi, Cherubino and Zerlina (!), Senta, Elisabeth, Elsa and Venus, Herodias, Arabella, von Schilling’s Mona Lisa and Kostelnicka. At Covent Garden she sang with the Dresden company in 1936 (Donna Anna, the Marschallin and Ariadne), and in Paris (1938) with the Berlin State Opera, of which she was also a member. Between 1942 and 1944 she was a much acclaimed member of the Vienna State Opera. She retired in 1945 giving occasional guest performances and concerts until 1951.

Comment:

Marta Fuchs was a remarkable, warm-voiced dramatic soprano of the 1930s and 40s. She was at her best in Wagner. I find her particularly fine in Senta’s Ballad. She seemed to lack the agility for Mozart roles (although she appeared as Cherubino and Zerlina) and considered certain Strauss roles too high for her. She was not only a very good Wagner singer but also succeeded as an accomplished Lieder singer (it was Walter Legge who engaged her for several songs by Wolf and Schubert).

 Tragt ihr das Schiff (Senta in The Flying Dutchman / Wagner / HMV 1940)

Gertrude Kappel (1884 - 1971)

Biographical notes:

Gertrude Kappel was born in Halle. Like Marta Fuchs, she began her studies as a contralto, but soon changed to a soprano, making her debut in 1907 as Leonore at the Hoftheater Hanover, where she was engaged until 1921. From the beginning of her career she concentrated on dramatic roles. From 1922 - 1927 she was engaged by Richard Strauss at the Vienna Staatsoper where she became an admired member of the company. At Covent Garden she appeared from 1912 - 1914 and returned in 1924 - 1926. Her roles included Brünnhilde, Isolde, Sieglinde, Senta, the Marschallin and Elektra, as well as a few roles of the Italian and French repertory. In London Gertrude Kappel faced strong competition with the great Frida Leider. She appeared at the Salzburg Festival, where she sang Donna Anna (1922) and at the Munich State Opera from    1927 - 1931. She made her Metropolitan debut in 1928 as Isolde, subsequently singing her most important roles: Ortrud, Fricka, Brünnhilde, the Marschallin and Elektra (first Metropolitan performance in 1932). Her art was unfortunately overshadowed by the singing of Kirsten Flagstad and Marjorie Lawrence. She repeated Isolde at San Francisco in 1933 and retired in 1937. She died in her home near Munich in 1971.

Comment:

Despite her international career, Gertrude Kappel has left all too few recordings. In 1911 ‘Favorite’ produced 16 titles and only in 1924 she recorded 6 titles for ‘Grammophon’ (three further recordings remained unpublished).

Her voice, if not especially big,  was of attractive quality. Her Wagner recordings make it easy to understand the affection in which she was held. The closing scene of Götterdämmerung reveals the wide range of her voice and the richness and security of her singing. In the Battle Cry you can hear a good trill!

 Starke Scheite schichtet mir dort (Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung / Wagner / Gramophone 1924)

My warmest thanks to Charles B. Mintzer (pictures)