Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf

The singing of Elisabeth Schwarzkopf embodied aristocratic charm and finely nuanced artistry allied with an unmistakable lyric soprano timbre. From an early broad repertoire that included Italian roles, she came to concentrate on a small core of operatic parts, giving performances in works by Mozart and Strauss that were considered definitive. She devoted herself equally to lieder, focusing particularly on the songs of Hugo Wolf, where her perfectionism and attention to detail paid huge dividends. A prolific recording artist, in collaboration with her husband Walter Legge, she left behind a legacy of matchless recorded performances, many of them under the baton of Herbert von Karajan.