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Erna Berger (19 October 1900 – 14 June 1990) was a Germanlyric coloratura soprano. She was best known for roles such asQueen of the Night andKonstanze.
Born inDresden, Germany, Berger spent some years as a child in India and South America. She lived there later on as well, working as a clerk and a piano teacher, before borrowing enough money for the trip back to Germany. At age 26, she secured a position as asoubrette soprano at theSemperoper in Dresden and had her first success as Hannele inPaul Graener's operaHanneles Himmelfahrt,[citation needed] based onGerhart Hauptmann's playThe Assumption of Hannele. She later held leading positions at theVienna State Opera, theBerlin State Opera, and theDeutsche Oper Berlin. She gave concerts in Japan, the United States, and Australia.
Her discography features complete recordings ofDie Zauberflöte (as the Queen of Night, conducted by SirThomas Beecham, 1937–38, forEMI), andRigoletto, withJan Peerce andLeonard Warren, conducted byRenato Cellini (1950) which was the first complete opera recording (with a few minor cuts) made in the United States byRCA Victor for commercial release on the then-newLP format.[citation needed]
Erna Berger was a member of the Berlin State Opera from 1934 to 1946. She is listed on 'Gottbegnadeten-Liste [God's Gifted List]' byGoebbels as an important artist of the Nazi state.[1]
Berger appeared at theMetropolitan Opera during the 1949/50 and 1950/51 seasons, inDer Rosenkavalier (oppositeEleanor Steber andRisë Stevens, conducted byFritz Reiner and directed byHerbert Graf),Rigoletto (with Warren, thenEnzo Mascherini),Die Zauberflöte, andIl barbiere di Siviglia (withGiuseppe Valdengo). She also sang Woglinde and the Waldvogel inDer Ring des Nibelungen, withKirsten Flagstad andHelen Traubel alternating as Brünnhilde.
She sang the role of Zerlina in the 1954Salzburg Festival production ofDon Giovanni conducted byWilhelm Furtwängler, filmed byPaul Czinner and released on DVD byDeutsche Grammophon. As an interpreter ofLieder, she often performed with the German pianistSebastian Peschko.
Despite advancing years Berger's voice did not lose its purity, range and beautiful tone. Though she retired from the operatic stage in 1955, she continued to sing in recitals well into her 60s, giving her last song recital in Munich in 1968.[2] In 1980, to celebrate her eightieth birthday, she "spontaneously sang over live German television Schubert's 'Im Abendroth' with moving devotion and a fine, warm quality."[3]
Between 1960 and 1971 Berger taught atHamburg andEssen. She was highly respected by her colleagues; as Furtwängler said: ‘She is music, through and through…the best’.[4] She died in Essen in 1990, aged 89. She was buried at theZentralfriedhof, Vienna. In 1992, the Bästleinstraße in Dresden was renamed the Erna-Berger-Straße in her honour.
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