Ortrud
Encyclopedia
Ortrud is a female character from Richard Wagner
's opera
Lohengrin
(1848).
In act II, Ortrud is blamed by Telramund for having originated the plot against Elsa. Ortrud reveals to the audience the fact that she is a witch. Undaunted, Ortrud has already hatched another plan. She pleads with Elsa for forgiveness and tries to make her doubt the character of Lohengrin, who has made Elsa swear never to ask him to reveal his identity.
Act III sees Ortrud's triumph when Elsa, on the day of her wedding to Lohengrin, breaks her vow. Lohengrin answers her question (Grail Narrative) and, as required by Grail law, leaves her. But his parting prayers free Gottfried, who had been turned into a swan by Ortrud herself. Frustrated at the last, Ortrud dies of sheer rage.
but the role may be sung by a dramatic soprano
.
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
(1848).
Role
In act I, Ortrud and her husband Friedrich von Telramund accuse Elsa von Brabant of murdering her brother Gottfried. Gottfried having disappeared, they claim the land of Brabant as Ortrud's. This claim fails when the mysterious Grail-Knight Lohengrin arrives and vindicates Elsa in a duel with Telramund. Elsa and the unknown knight become engaged.In act II, Ortrud is blamed by Telramund for having originated the plot against Elsa. Ortrud reveals to the audience the fact that she is a witch. Undaunted, Ortrud has already hatched another plan. She pleads with Elsa for forgiveness and tries to make her doubt the character of Lohengrin, who has made Elsa swear never to ask him to reveal his identity.
Act III sees Ortrud's triumph when Elsa, on the day of her wedding to Lohengrin, breaks her vow. Lohengrin answers her question (Grail Narrative) and, as required by Grail law, leaves her. But his parting prayers free Gottfried, who had been turned into a swan by Ortrud herself. Frustrated at the last, Ortrud dies of sheer rage.
Music
Ortrud is written for a mezzo-sopranoMezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
but the role may be sung by a dramatic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
.
Singers of the role
a is for alto, ms for mezzo-soprano, s for soprano.- Maria OlszewskaMaria OlszewskaMaria Olszewska was a German operatic contralto.-Biography:Olszewska was born in Ludwigsschwaige. She studied singing in Munich with Karl Erler before beginning her career singing in operettas in that city in 1913. She made her first opera appearance in 1915 as the Page in Richard Wagner's...
(a/ms) - Marjorie LawrenceMarjorie LawrenceMarjorie Florence Lawrence CBE was an Australian soprano, particularly noted as an interpreter of Richard Wagner's operas. She was the first soprano to perform the immolation scene in Götterdämmerung by riding her horse into the flames as Wagner had intended. She was afflicted by polio from 1941...
(s) - Karin BranzellKarin BranzellKarin Branzell was a Swedish operatic contralto , who had a prominent career at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and in Europe. Her very wide range enabled her to sing both contralto roles and the occasional soprano role...
(ms) - Kerstin ThorborgKerstin ThorborgKerstin Thorborg Born in Venjan, Sweden, the contralto Kerstin Thorborg was one of the best dramatic Wagnerian singers in the two decades between 1930 and 1950. She made her debut in 1924 singing the difficult role of Ortrud. Eight years later, the famed conductor Bruno Walter engaged her for the...
(a/ms) - Margarete KloseMargarete KloseMargarete Klose, , was a German operatic mezzo-soprano. Her 'official' year of birth was 1902.- Life :...
(a/ms) - Margaret HarshawMargaret HarshawMargaret Harshaw was an American opera singer and voice teacher who sang for 22 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera from November 1942 to March 1964. She began her career as a mezzo-soprano in the early 1930s but then began performing roles from the soprano repertoire in 1951...
(s) - Astrid VarnayAstrid VarnayIbolyka Astrid Maria Varnay was an American dramatic soprano of Hungarian heritage and Swedish birth, who did most of her work in the United States and Germany. She was one of the best-known Wagnerian heroic sopranos of her generation...
(s) - Helena Braun (s)
- Nell RankinNell RankinNell Rankin was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. Although a successful opera singer internationally, she spent most of her career at the Metropolitan Opera where she worked from 1951-1976. Rankin was particularly admired for her portrayals of Amneris in Verdi's Aida and the title role in...
(ms) - Rita GorrRita GorrRita Gorr , is a Belgian operatic mezzo-soprano. She possessed a large, rich-toned voice and was an intense singing-actress, especially in dramatic roles such as Ortrud and Amneris , two of her greatest roles....
(ms) - Christa LudwigChrista LudwigChrista Ludwig is a retired German mezzo-soprano, distinguished for her performances of opera, Lieder, oratorio and other major religious works like masses and passions, and solos contained in symphonic literature...
(ms) - Grace Hoffman (ms)
- Dame Gwyneth JonesGwyneth Jones (opera singer)Dame Gwyneth Jones DBE is a Welsh soprano.Before becoming a professional singer, Dame Gwyneth worked as a secretary at the Pontypool foundry. She studied music at the Royal College of Music, London, the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena as well as the International Opera Studio in Zürich...
(s) - Dunja VejzovicDunja VejzovicDunja Vejzovic , née Crnković, in Zagreb, Croatia, on October 20, 1943, is an acclaimed operatic soprano who began her career with the Zagreb National Theatre, where she made her "real" debut in 1970, as Ariel in Stjepan Šulek's Oluja...
(ms/s) - Elizabeth Connell (s)
- Eva Randova (ms)
- Marisa GalvanyMarisa GalvanyMarisa Galvany is an American soprano who had an active international career performing in operas and concerts up into the early 2000s. Known for the great intensity of her performances, Galvany particularly excelled in portraying Verdi heroines...
(s) - Anja SiljaAnja SiljaAnja Silja Regina Langwagen, , born April 17, 1940, in Berlin, is a German soprano who is known for her great abilities as a singing-actress and for the vastness of her repertoire....
(s) - Gabriele Schnaut (ms/s)
- Waltraud MeierWaltraud MeierWaltraud Meier is a Grammy Award–winning German dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano singer. She is particularly known for her Wagnerian roles as Kundry, Isolde, Ortrud, Venus and Sieglinde, but has also had success in the French and Italian repertoire appearing as Eboli, Amneris, Carmen and Santuzza...
(ms) - Leonie RysanekLeonie RysanekLeopoldine "Leonie" Rysanek was an Austrian dramatic soprano.-Biography:Rysanek was born in Vienna and made her operatic debut in 1949 in Innsbruck. In 1951 the Bayreuth Festival reopened and the new leader Wieland Wagner asked her to sing Sieglinde...
(s) - Eva MartonÉva MartonÉva Marton is a Hungarian dramatic soprano, particularly known for her operatic portrayals of Puccini's Turandot and Tosca, and Wagnerian roles.- Vocal training and early years :...
(s) - Deborah PolaskiDeborah PolaskiDeborah Polaski is an American opera and concert singer . She has specialized in dramatic soprano roles and also sings mezzo-soprano roles occasionally.-Biography:...
(s)