Lammers, Gerda

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Lammers, Gerda

Lammers, Gerda, esteemed German soprano; b. Berlin, Sept. 25, 1915. She studied with L. Mysz-Gmeiner and M. Schwedler-Lohmann at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. After appearances as a concert and lieder artist (1940–55), she made her operatic debut as Ortlinde at the Bayreuth Festival (1955). That same year she made her first appearance at the Kassel State Theater as Marie in Berg’s Wozzeck, remaining there for some 15 years. She made an acclaimed debut as Elektra at London’s Covent Garden (1957), substituting on short notice for an indisposed Christel Goltz; she returned there as Kundry in 1959. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Elektra on March 16, 1962. Her other distinguished roles included Alceste, Medea, Senta, Isolde, and Brünnhilde.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire