This Lotte Lehmann Chronology is divided into four parts. A condensed one-page version can be found below.
- Studies & Hamburg Opera Years: 1888–1916
- Vienna Years: 1916–1937
- U.S. Opera/Recital Years: 1937–1951
- Teaching Years: 1951–1976
The following people have helped with the chronology research: Dr. Herman Schornstein, Shirley Sproule, Hertha Schuck; chronology researcher Nicolai Heske provided the recital and church concert dates that Lehmann sang early in her career in Hamburg. Historic chronology work continued with help from chronologists Charles Mintzer, who wrote Rosa Raisa’s biography, and Bob Tuggle, Director of the Metropolitan Opera Archives. The Lehmann Chronology also had help from researchers in Vienna (Karin Neuwirth, Peter Claussen, Jean-Pascal Vachon), Stockholm, Hamburg (Alfred Kaine), Paris (Jean-Pascal Vachon), and Chicago (Rebecca Kahn).
Condensed Lehmann Chronology
1888 Born in Perleberg, Germany
1910 Hamburg Opera debut
1916 Sings premier of Ariadne auf Naxos, Vienna Opera
1919 Sings premier of Frau ohne Schatten, Vienna Opera
1920 Sings Vienna premier of Suor Angelica, Vienna Opera
1924 Covent Garden debut as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier
1924 Sings premier of Intermezzo, Dresden Opera
1926 Sings Vienna premier of Turandot, Vienna Opera
1930 First US appearances
1932 First Town Hall recital
1933 Sings Vienna premier of Arabella, Vienna Opera
1934 Metropolitan Opera debut (Sieglinde in Die Walküre)
1937 Leaves Vienna for the US; tours Australia
1939 Her husband, Otto Krause, dies
1946 Final opera appearances
1947 Helps found the Music Academy of the West, Santa Barbara, where she lives and teaches both privately and at the MAW
1947 Appears in MGM’s Big City
1950 Exhibits her paintings
1951 Final song recital appearances
1952 Master Classes (Pasadena, MAW and later throughout the world)
1953 “Evening with Lotte Lehmann” a series of staged performances, in which her students sang, and Lehmann spoke
1960 Produces Arabella at MAW (regularly produces opera performances there)
1961 NET records her opera and Lieder master classes at MAW
1976 Dies, Santa Barbara, California, US