Ursula Zollenkopf is a German classicalcontralto singer. A member of theNDR Chor based inHamburg, she appeared as a soloist in opera and concert, including premieres of contemporary music such as Stravinsky'sThreni and Schoenberg'sMoses und Aron.
Zollenkopf was a member of the choir of the German broadcasterNordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR Chor, later theNDR Chor).[1] In the 1950s, she appeared in solo operatic parts with the choir and NWDR orchestra conducted byWilhelm Schüchter. These included Lady Pamela in Auber'sFra Diavolo in 1954, alongsideWilma Lipp,Rudolf Schock andJames Pease;[2] and in 1955 as Benjamin in Méhul'sJoseph, withLibero de Luca in the title role.[3][4] She performed as the alto soloist in a series ofBach cantatas, with members of theNDR Chor and theHamburger Rundfunkorchester conducted byMax Thurn, for example the Easter cantataErfreut euch, ihr Herzen, BWV 66, in 1957.[5][6]
Zollenkopf appeared in the role of the mother in the premiere of Hans Werner Henze's radio operaEin Landarzt in 1951.[7] She sang as a soloist and in the choir at the première of Arnold Schoenberg's unfinished operaMoses und Aron at theMusikhalle Hamburg on 12 March 1954.[8]Hans Rosbaud conducted the choirs and orchestra of the NWDR, withHans Herbert Fiedler in the speaking role of Moses andHelmut Krebs as Aron.[8][9] She appeared as a soloist and in choir in Stravinsky'sThreni at the hall of theScuola Grande di San Rocco in Venice on 23 September 1958, where the composer conducted the NDR Chor and theNDR Sinfonieorchester, with soloistsJeanne Deroubaix,Hugues Cuénod, Richard Robinson, Charles Scharbach and Robert Oliver.[10]
She appeared as a soloist in various choral concerts, such as Bach'sMass in B minor andChristmas Oratorio (1961), hisSt Matthew Passion (1967) andSt John Passion (1968) inBonn with the choir and chamber orchestra of theBonner Bach Gemeinschaft (Bonn Bach society), conducted byGustav Classens.[11] With the Itzehoer Konzertchor, she sang in Handel'sMessiah, conducted by Otto Spreckelsen atSt. Laurentii, Itzehoe, in 1963, among others.[12]
She participated in theInternationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik inDarmstadt in 1964, performing inGolem, subtitledPolemic for nine singers (1962) byHans G. Helms, conducted by Fred Barth.[13] In 1959 she recorded the alto part of Beethoven'sNinth Symphony with Ingeborg Wenglor,Hans-Joachim Rotzsch, andTheo Adam, choir of Radio Leipzig (nowMDR Chor) and theGewandhausorchester conducted byFranz Konwitschny.[14]
