Maria Radner studied at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Dusseldorf.
25 Facts About Maria Radner
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Maria Radner was described as an "extremely talented interpreter of Wagner's music" by Stern magazine and Abendzeitung.
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Maria Friderike Radner was born in Dusseldorf and had a brother, Bozidar, and a sister, Anna.
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Maria Radner's parents had immigrated from Austria and started a trading company.
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Maria Radner's father remembered her calling him excitedly after winning first prize in a beer-tent karaoke competition.
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Maria Radner attended St Ursula Gymnasium in Dusseldorf, finishing in 2000.
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Maria Radner pursued German studies for one semester, but left because she disliked it.
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Maria Radner applied to the Robert Schumann Hochschule for music in Dusseldorf and was one of seven selected from 200 applicants.
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Maria Radner's father obtained additional voice lessons for her with Jeannette Zarou in Dusseldorf and later with mezzo-soprano Marga Schiml, both experts in early music and Lieder, who recognized her as a contralto.
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Maria Radner decided that it was "not her world" because she wanted to earn more, and she went independent.
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Maria Radner was still a student in 2008 when she made her first public appearance under Zubin Mehta at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, singing Martin y Soler's oratorio Philitaei a Jonatha disperse.
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Maria Radner performed a recital at Wahnfried on 16 August 2009 with works by Schubert, Brahms, Liszt and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder.
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In 2009 and 2010, Maria Radner was part of a new production of Stravinsky's Rossignol by the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.
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Maria Radner then sang Beethoven's Missa Solemnis under Philippe Herreweghe at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
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Maria Radner performed the third lady in Die Zauberflote at La Scala, conducted by Roland Boer and recorded on DVD, during March and April 2011, and Rheingold's Erda in Essen conducted by Stefan Soltesz in April.
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Maria Radner performed Martha in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and "death" in Le Rossignol, both under Ivor Bolton.
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In January 2012, Maria Radner made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in Gotterdammerung.
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In January 2013, Maria Radner appeared as the valkyrie Schwertleite in Die Walkure at the Teatro Comunale di Firenze under Zubin Mehta, and in March she again portrayed Erda in Das Rheingold, conducted by Ingo Metzmacher at the Grand Theatre de Geneve.
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From January to May 2014, in Geneva, Maria Radner performed Erda in Siegfried, and in May in Das Rheingold conducted by Metzmacher.
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Maria Radner gave her final performance as the earth goddess Erda on 23 March 2015 in Wagner's Siegfried at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.
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Maria Radner had been scheduled to appear at Bayreuth in the summer of 2015.
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Maria Radner had a side, that many internationally successful opera stars are not privy to: her own family.
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Maria Radner was travelling a lot professionally, while he looked after his insurance clients in Wuppertal.
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Maria Radner died on 24 March 2015, along with her husband Sascha Schenk, their 18-month-old son Felix, and her colleague Oleg Bryjak, when Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed near Prads-Haute-Bleone, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France.
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Maria Radner's voice teacher Michaela Kramer said "she was a magnificent artist and yet remained unassuming, helpful and natural".