Wildbrunn, Helene

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Wildbrunn, Helene

Wildbrunn (real name, Wehrenpfennig) Helene, Austrian soprano; b. Vienna, April 8,1882; d. there, April 10, 1972. She studied with Rosa Papier in Vienna. She made her operatic debut as a contralto at the Vienna Volksoper in 1906, then sang in Dortmund (1907-14). She began singing soprano roles in 1914, when she joined the Stuttgart Opera, where she remained until 1918. She sang in Berlin at the State Opera (1916-25) and the Deutsche Opera (1926-29); she was a principal member of the Vienna State Opera (1919-32), and made guest appearances at Covent Garden in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. After her retirement in 1932, she taught voice at the Vienna Academy of Music (until 1950). Among her finest roles were Kundry, Brunnhilde, Fricka, Isolde, Donna Anna, and Leonore.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire