Streich, Rita (1920–1987)
Streich, Rita (1920–1987)
German coloratura soprano. Born on December 18, 1920, in Barnaul, Russia; died on March 20, 1987, in Vienna, Austria; studied with Willi Domgraf-Fassbänder, Maria Ivogün, and Erna Berger.
Sang with the Berlin Staatsoper (1946–51), and the Berlin Städtische Oper (1951–53); debuted in London (1957); made American debut in San Francisco (1957); joined the Folkwang-Hochschule faculty in Essen (1974).
Rita Streich, who studied with Willi Domgraf-Fassbänder, Maria Ivogün , and Erna Berger , was born in Barnaul, Russia, in 1920. With her small but pretty voice, she performed mostly German and Austrian operas during the 1950s and 1960s, because she was particularly suited to Mozart and Strauss. Streich was much more successful in comic opera than in more serious roles and was particularly admired for her portrayals of Sophie in Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos. Her delicate voice corresponds exactly to the text in recordings made with Herbert von Karajan in Grossmächtige Prinzessin. Streich, who did not perform widely in North America, was primarily known on the European opera stage.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia