Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888–1976

by Michael H. Kater

• ISBN13: 9780521873925
• ISBN10: 0521873924
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Lotte Lehmann ranks among the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. She was a favorite of Richard Strauss, and over her lifetime became the friend of other famous men: Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini and Thomas Mann. She had a famous encounter with Hermann G_ring, in which he claimed to want to make her the foremost singer in Nazi Germany. By the time of her final performance in 1951, she was considered one of the finest singing actresses of all time. Rather than a traditional biography, this book aims to be both a descriptive narrative of Lehmann's life and a critical analysis of the interconnections of the artist and society. Kater describes the varying phases of Lehmann's life, as well as the sociocultural settings in which she finds herself - whether in the Wilhemine Empire, First Austrian Republic, Nazi Germany, or the United States. Kater's use of Lehmann's personal and other papers reshapes much of what is known about her life and career.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Abbreviations	p. xiii
Childhood and Apprentice Years	p. 1
Perleberg and Berlin	p. 1
Coming Out in Hamburg	p. 15
Rise to Fame in Vienna	p. 38
From Empire to Republic	p. 38
A Prima Donna in the Staatsoper	p. 50
Private Times	p. 76
Climax and Crises	p. 91
New Challenges in Vienna	p. 91
Professional Life and Private Affairs	p. 112
America	p. 136
Between Third Reich Seduction and American Opportunity	p. 153
Lotte Lehmann, the Lion, and the Third Reich	p. 153
New York	p. 166
Between Touring and Teaching, 1940-1950	p. 198
Frances Holden, Santa Barbara, and the New World	p. 198
Professional Transformations	p. 221
Triumphs and Burdens of Old Age, 1951-1976	p. 249
The Music Academy of the West	p. 249
Master Pupils	p. 262
At Dusk	p. 275
Epilogue	p. 301
Notes	p. 313
Index	p. 381
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