Christa Ludwig's powerful performances of Carmen, Ortrud, the Dyer's Wife, and others are treasured memories of many opera lovers and record collectors (including me!). And so it's most welcome to have her memoirs and even more so because of her refreshing directness and candor. She tells about her career with honesty, humor, pride, and humility. A very nice selection of photos are especially welcome to those of us who enjoyed her onstage.
Christa Ludwig was, in my opinion, the greatest German mezzo of her time, in both opera and lieder, and, as someone else says in an opera review on Amazon, the greatest Elektra that never was and the greatest Brunnhilde that never was. And she is also, as you can see from her engaging book "In My Own Voice," a person of wit, honesty, an exuberance for life, and and with an ability to talk about her gifts and her life that both recognizes what she has and puts it in perspective. As she quotes from the Schu..
Christa Ludwig is inarguably one of the greatest singers and musicians of this or any time. A mezzo-soprano who also made at least one classic recording of a great soprano role (Beethoven's Leonora in FIDELIO), Mme. Ludwig was, in addition, a probing and insightful recital and concert artist. Mme. Ludwig's memoir, expertly translated by Regina Domeraski, reveals a deeply committed artist who is also a human being who has lived a full life, and has no reservations when it comes to talking about either. If ..
