An Historic Die Walküre
LL to Alma Mahler
From PennState Libraries we have the transcription of a letter that Lehmann wrote to Alma Mahler-Werfel. In 1902 Alma married Mahler who died in 1911; in 1915 she married architect Walter Gropius from whom she divorced in 1920; in 1929 she married author/novelist Franz Werfel, who died in 1945. Lehmann sang at the funeral of Franz Werfel at Pierce Brothers Mortuary, Hollywood, with Bruno Walter, piano; they performed Schubert’s An die Musik and Du bist die Ruh’. (Werfel died on 26 August 1945; the funeral was held on 29 August 1945, so Lehmann’s reference to “recent yesterday” shows that the letter was written on 30 August 1945.)
Dear Ms. Alma –
Dear Frau Alma –blessed with beauty and intellect, you made these gifts the servants of a selfless ambition: to give inspiration to the two great men who bound their lives to yours and to whom you were a beloved companion until the end. May the memory of this recent yesterday resonate within you for many years to come as a heartfelt melody – and brighten and bless your today and tomorrow.
Lotte Lehmann
Santa Barbara.
LL and her Step-Children
From an August 11, 1938 edition of the New York Times: Headline: LOTTE LEHMANN HERE WITH THREE STEPSONS; Singer and Children, Who Fled Austria, Will Seek Citizenship
Lotte Lehmann, German soprano of the Metropolitan Opera Company, arrived yesterday on the French liner Champlain with her three stepsons, Ludwig, 23; Hans, 20, and Peter, 19. Mme. Lehmann said that she, her stepsons and her stepdaughter Manon, 22, who arrived recently, were on the German quota and would apply for United States citizenship.
She explained that the children were those of her husband, Otto Krause, by a previous marriage. She said the parents of the children were Austrian, and not Jewish, but their grandmother was non-Aryan. Because of this fact they left Austria on May 12 and crossed the frontier into Switzerland the next day.
Mme. Lehmann said she would begin to read proof on her autobiography, “Midway in My Song,” which is to be published next Fall by Bobbs-Merrill. She will open a concert tour on Tuesday in Colorado Springs, Col., and return to the Metropolitan Opera House in November. She expects to sing “Fidelio” there during the coming season.
Referring to her collapse on the stage of Covent Garden Opera House, London, last May, Mme. Lehmann said: “It was really nervous exhaustion that caused me to faint, and I nearly fainted again at the hotel later in the evening, when my eldest stepson, Ludwig, who I thought was in Vienna, called me on the telephone from Paris.”
LL with Bing Crosby
On 27 February 1936 Lotte Lehmann appeared on the Kraft Music Hall radio program with Bing Crosby, etc. Until now we didn’t know what she sang. Finally, here’s the answer: Schubert: Ungeduld (from Die schöne Müllerin); Cimara: Canto di Primavera; Balogh (her pianist at the time): Do not Chide me. The Program Director, J. Walter Thompson, wrote: “Lehmann stole the show with her singing and buoyant personality.” Since this was recorded on Lehmann’s birthday, Crosby (along with the other members of the cast) sang Happy Birthday to her. Lehmann also sang on Bing’s radio program on 14 March 1940. By then she was using Paul Ulanowsky as her pianist, but no pianist is mentioned in the notes. Her program contained Wolf: Verborgenheit; Trad.: Would God I Were a Tender Apple Blossom (aka: Londonderry Air); Schubert: Die Post (from Die schöne Müllerin).
LL and Otto Klemperer
From a New York Times December 6, 1935 review by Olin Downes:
“The program given last night in Carnegie Hall by the Philharmonic- Symphony Orchestra was one of the most interesting, and in point of performance most exciting that Mr. Klemperer has provided his audience this season. It was a curiously assorted list, which worked out surprisingly well, with the assistance of Mme. Lotte Lehmann as soloist. She sang an aria by Goetz and songs by Hugo Wolf. These were the achievements of a greatly gifted singer and a true artist, aware of the proper place of a soloist on an orchestral program. They were gratefully and approvingly received, but, as it should be, the orchestra was the dominating element of the occasion, and it discoursed superb music.”
Lotte Lehmann in a Poem
We recently reported on Heather Walrath’s 2025 novel, The Diva’s Daughter, in which Lotte Lehmann has a role, now we can offer a contemporary poem that includes her. By the way, the quote (below) attributed to Lotte Lehmann was actually by Lilli Lehmann, who wrote about classical vocal technical matters. Lotte Lehmann was most famous for her interpretation of roles and songs and admitted that she never felt comfortable talking about or teaching vocal technique.
Can you help?
We need help to identify the setting of this good photo of Lehmann. Someone suggested AI and here’s the results of that: The structure behind the woman is the Neue Residenz (New Residenz). The prominent square tower directly behind her head is the Salzburg Carillon Tower (Salzburger Glockenspielturm). The Fountain: Visible on the far right edge of the frame is the upper portion of the landmark Residenzbrunnen. This massive 17th-century structure is celebrated as one of the largest Baroque fountains outside of Italy. The Landscape: On the left edge of the photo, the silhouette of the Kapuzinerberg hill is visible in the distance. Historical Context & Fashion: The image likely dates back to the late 1920s or early 1930s. This era is indicated by the woman’s classic cloche hat (a fitted, bell-shaped hat popular in the era), her heavy winter overcoat with a stylized neck-tie closure, and the large vintage car headlight she is leaning against.
LL with Colleagues
Many LL Students in a Photo
Schwarzkopf on LL’s Marschallin
An excerpt from the New York Times of 11 December 1960
ONE person who is glad she never saw Lotte Lehmann sing the Marschallin in “Der Rosenkavalier” is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. The latter hastened to explain why she felt this way about one of the great interpretations of this century.
“Mme. Lehmann’s performance was so overwhelming,” Miss Schwarzkopf said, “that it dominated the thinking of anyone who saw it. Last fall, when I was singing with the San Francisco Opera, I visited Mme. Lehmann and talked to her about the role of the Marschallin. Many things she said will help me to deepen my present characterization.
“But it would be wrong for me to pattern my Marschallin after Mme, Lehmann’s, if only because my voice is much different from hers. It is higher and lighter and not so rich and solid in the middle register.”
TIME magazine: 27 January 1946
“Dowager of Song”
The applause went on for two minutes when she came on stage; the house was full, and 100 extra people crowded onto the stage, which was decked with enough floral tributes to do justice to a gangster’s funeral. But tall, ample Lotte Lehmann, one of the greatest sopranos of her fading day, making her 18th annual appearance at Manhattan’s Town Hall, still nervously clutched a handkerchief as she sang Schubert’s Müllerin song cycle. Said she, afterwards: “The first concert in New York is always difficult. The heart goes like that! It is like having again a difficult examination.”
She is now 57—and is annoyed when newspapers, as they often do, call her 60. She has a Perleberg birth certificate dated February 27, 1888, and after producing it last week, added: “It has cost me so many tears, you have no idea. I should wear my birth certificate on a chain around my neck!” She is bubbling with health, and looks somewhat like a motherly Hausfrau, which she isn’t. (“There’s not an atom of Hausfrau in me. It’s really dreadful.”)
In a hillside house overlooking the Pacific near Santa Barbara, Calif., Lotte Lehmann lives with a friend, Frances Holden (former New York University psychology assistant professor). Says she: “We swim every day in the Pacific, even at Christmas time. We are dreadfully busy. She translates my books. I paint. She makes carpenter work. We look like pigs running around.” Lehmann’s fourth book, More Than Singing, is in its second printing, and her paintings (landscapes, portraits, opera scenes) were displayed in a one-man show in November 1944. (“A man called up and wanted to buy one of the paintings. I was so overwhelmed I wanted to give it to him. My friend said, ‘Lotte, don’t be so unprofessional.’ He paid $50 for it, poor man!”)
Lotte Lehmann’s voice is still powerful and still lyric, but she does not dread the day when she loses it: “I will not miss it a bit,” says she, “of that I am quite sure. I like very much to show other sides. Oh, Gott, I have not only one!”
For the first time in twelve years she is not singing at the Metropolitan this winter—although in San Francisco she recently sang her greatest role, the Marschallin, in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. She regrets that Strauss did not oppose Naziism more actively, but says: “Shall one expect that a great artist is also a great person? I know artists with lousy characters. It is strange that the gift is given sometimes to a shell that is not worthy of it, nicht?”
Unusual Photos
Colorized Lehmann
Here are three recently “improved” photos that include Lehmann. Sadly, the face has been altered to become a rather generic one as you can tell by comparing it to the b/w original.
Singing Style Research
The Substance of Style: How Singing Creates Meaning in the Music of Schubert, Donizetti, and Bellini is the work of Elise Plack for her 2012 thesis at Cornell University. The second chapter, called “The Sources of Style” analyzes the singing of art song by specialists of the early 20th century which includes many references to Lotte Lehmann, both as a writer and as a singer. That chapter is available on this website.
New Photos
Lotte Lehmann in a new Novel
The author is Heather Walrath and her novel, The Diva’s Daughter, is set in Munich in 1932 and by page 82 has mentioned Lehmann, in this case, teaching. There’s obviously much more to come in the next 300 pages, and I’ll report on that as I read. Now, having read the whole book, I can say that it’s a good read, especially for people interested in the Nazi era and classical vocal music. The story line is engrossing and the writing is excellent. The Lehmann references are accurate and though Lehmann is hardly the star of the novel, it’s interesting to see how the author has used her and her fame as reference and even turning points.
LL’s First Sieglinde
Here’s an English translation of a critic’s reaction to LL’s first appearance as Sieglinde in 1914 in Hamburg.
Five LL Paintings (Auction)
The Auktionshaus Bad Homburg is offering five of Lotte Lehmann’s paintings in the next auction sale on Saturday, 28 March 2026. The company may be reached at aubaho.de or auktionshaus-bad-homburg.de
Reviews from Vienna Newspapers
We have discovered some reviews from the 1930s that treat Lehmann very well!
“Lotte Lehmann gave a song recital with Bruno Walter. Much has been said in abundance regarding the vocal artistry, performance, inner discipline, and spiritual content of the presentations. However, Lotte Lehmann possesses qualities beyond that which seem to be unique—just as unique as the tear that trembled in Richard Mayr’s voice. With Lotte Lehmann, it is the interplay of spiritual shades, shifting from the cheerful to the pensive, from the pensive to the melancholy, and from the melancholy to the dramatic. Even in her cheerfulness, a tone vibrates that sounds a bit in a minor key. This soft minor tinting transitions into a Beethoven-esque drama. It is feminine, yet heroic drama. Somehow, Leonore is always there. The meditative and the impulsive are united in Lotte Lehmann with rare perfection. Thus, this voice once again became a great shaper [of art]. The program included Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Hugo Wolf and…”
“Events of world-class stature are overcrowded in Vienna even today. What Lotte Lehmann means as a lieder singer is understood here perhaps better than anywhere else, because we have followed the beginnings of such artistry, recognizing its growing maturity.
To truly grasp songs, as this woman does, requires—aside from all musical and vocal perfection,—a human greatness and, at the same time, a tenderness that can only be wrung from a life in the wide world, a life lived with the soul. That is why it is such a unique performance we are witnessing with Lotte Lehmann now—a performance that reveals all the wonders of (let us call it) romantic Germanness. [the critic is a Jew, so there’s no Deutschland über alles in his words]
Schumann, Brahms, Richard Strauss, poets from Heine to Dehmel: this is a spiritual province that, thanks to such a singer and interpreter, is now opening to the whole world, finding the most beautiful understanding everywhere. Let us not even begin to speak of Schubert, who gave his sounding voice to all of old Austria.
The course of the evening: ovations, repetitions, encores, and a farewell that was delayed again and again. It was never more beautiful. But half of such happiness came from Bruno Walter. In his piano playing, the ideal of the German Lied is reflected: symphonic texture around a melody (Symphonik um ein Melos).”
LL Film Planned
This recently discovered newspaper article from 1935 offers the “What IF?” question to the past.
Gerron to direct Lotte Lehmann film
Lotte Lehmann is now also set to star in a film. She will portray a great singer who must grapple with the conflict between her career and her private life. She tries to renounce her art to save her marriage and family happiness. However, she doesn’t quite succeed, and ultimately returns to her art. Kurt Gerron will direct the film. Negotiations with Ms. Lehmann are expected to be finalized in the coming days, with only financial details remaining to be settled. Filming is scheduled to begin in September. 1935
LL’s Students Obituaries
We have finally completed the page that offers obituaries of all of Lehmann’s Music Academy of the West students (the students we know of). Often you’ll find the student’s recorded memories of working with Lehmann. For some of the lesser known students we have included some recordings of their work.
Town Hall, Australia
1935 Review
John Amis on Lotte Lehmann
In 2021 John Amis put together a program of Lehmann’s singing called Lotte Lehmann: Vintage Years which can be found on YouTube.
LL at the New Met
We have a short (interrupted) interview with Mme Lehmann (preceded by the First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson).
La Scala?
• You can’t believe everything you read. This appeared in the Neue Freie Presse of 20 January 1924. In English: Tomorrow (Monday) Lotte Lehmann‘s single concert [we’d call it a recital] at 7pm. At the piano: Professor Ferdinand Foll. Miss Lehmann appears as Lieder singer before the Vienna public for the first time in several years. Her program contains songs of Brahms, Schumann, Cornelius, Marx, and Strauss. In this concert, Miss Lehmann takes leave of the Vienna public for a longer period of time, because only a few days later she travels to Italy for several months, where she first appears as a guest singer for two months at La Scala, Milan. Remaining tickets…..The recital information is correct, but Lehmann didn’t sing on those dates at Italy’s La Scala. Rather, in this case, she traveled to Berlin, first to record on 13 February and then to sing opera there with Georg Szell, among other conductors at the Berlin Staatsoper, where she remained, making records and singing opera until 21 May 1924 the date she sang her first Marschallin in London under Bruno Walter’s direction. She continued singing opera (Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Rosenkavalier and Die Walküre), not returning to Vienna until the next season when on 9 September 1924 she sang in Faust. As usual, many thanks to Peter Clausen for the clipping. P.S. Lehmann did eventually sing a recital at La Scala, but in 1935.