Guten Tag! At one time, opera-goers expected to hear performances in their own language! Who knew? Larry offers examples as sung in the German-speaking countries by Leonie Rysanek, Fritz Wunderlich, Erna Berger, and Pilar Lorengar.
Italian Opera in German
Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany (Photo: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de [CC BY-SA 3.0], image cropped, via Wikimedia Commons)
Playlist
“Frieden, mein Helland” from La forza del destino by Giuseppe Verdi
Leonie Rysanek, soprano; Berlin Symphony; Wilhelm Schüchter, conductor
(Berlin 1955. EMI CDH 5 65201 2)
“Teurer Name” from Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi
Erna Berger, soprano; Orchestra of the Berlin Staatsoper; Clemens Schmalstich, conductor
(Berlin 1932. LP: ELECTROLA 137‐46 104/05)
“Ja, Es War Abend – Mädchen, In Deinen Augen Liegt Ein Zauber” from Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Pilar Lorengar, soprano; Sieglinde Wagner, mezzo-soprano; Fritz Wunderlich, tenor; Berlin Symphony; Berislav Klobučar, conductor
(Berlin 1961. EMI CDZ 7 62995 2)