Sigrid Kehl was a German operatic mezzo-soprano and later dramatic soprano.
25 Facts About Sigrid Kehl
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Sigrid Kehl studied voice and piano further at the Berlin University of the Arts until 1956.
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Sigrid Kehl wanted to become a Lieder singer, of songs by Schumann, Brahms and Mahler, thinking that she was too tall for the stage.
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Sigrid Kehl made her debut at the Berlin State Opera while still a member of the opera studio, as a Polowetz woman in Borodin's Prince Igor conducted by Horst Stein.
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Sigrid Kehl became a permanent member of the ensemble in 1957 and remained there for over 35 years.
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Sigrid Kehl first performed small roles such as Ines in Verdi's Il trovatore, the Shepherd boy in Puccini's Tosca and the priestess in Verdi's Aida.
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Sigrid Kehl then tackled Wagner roles, Ortrud in Wagner's Lohengrin, Venus in Tannhauser and Brangane in Tristan und Isolde.
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Sigrid Kehl appeared in trousers roles such as Orpheus in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice.
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Sigrid Kehl performed the role of the Kostelnicka in Janacek's Jenufa in 1968, conducted by Vaclav Neumann.
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At the beginning of the 1970s, Sigrid Kehl turned to dramatic soprano repertoire, beginning with Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio in 1970.
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Sigrid Kehl first appeared as Wagner's Isolde in 1981, conducted by Kurt Masur.
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Sigrid Kehl had a guest contract with the Berlin State Opera from 1971, making her debut as the Nurse in a production by Harry Kupfer.
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Sigrid Kehl performed at the Komische Oper Berlin, as Penelope in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria directed by Gotz Friedrich.
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Sigrid Kehl performed the title role of Elektra by Strauss first at the Theater Hagen in 1977, as a substitute at a few hours' notice, saving the premiere of the new production.
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From 1960, Sigrid Kehl gave international guest performances; in 1966, she performed as Brunnhilde in Wagner's Siegfried at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, alongside Hans Hopf in the title role, and as Sieglinde in Die Walkure at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna.
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Sigrid Kehl appeared at the Grand Theatre de Geneve, in the title role of Carl Orff's Antigonae in 1970 and as the Kostelnicka in 1972.
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Sigrid Kehl performed as Isolde at the Lausanne Opera in 1983, at the Opernhaus Graz, as Fricka in Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, in Prague, Budapest, Sofia and Varna.
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Sigrid Kehl appeared there as Ortrud and Brangane, conducted by Zubin Mehta.
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Sigrid Kehl performed as the Kostelnicka in Jenufa at the Semperoper in Dresden in another production by Herz.
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Sigrid Kehl was awarded the title Kammersangerin in 1963, and was appointed an honorary member of the Leipzig Opera in 1990 after she retired.
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From 1979, Sigrid Kehl taught voice for a decade as professor at the Musikhochschule Leipzig.
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Sigrid Kehl initiated an opera project in 1996 and was artistic director for Telemann's Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Comacho in a collaboration of the music academies of Leipzig and Berlin and the Leipzig Opera.
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Sigrid Kehl became a member of the Sachsische Akademie der Kunste in 1996.
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Sigrid Kehl was married to the actor Friedhelm Eberle; they lived in Leipzig and had a son.
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Sigrid Kehl died on 18 December 2024, at the age of 95.