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Born: April 15, 1898 - Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Died: May 11, 1985 - Zürich, Switzerland |
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The German soprano and influential teacher, Ria Ginster, was the daughter of a pianist and choir conductor. From her earliest childhood her musical gift was evident. After high school, she began vocal studies at Dr. Hoch’s Conservatory in Frankfurt and completed it with a concert singer diploma. She took further studies with the renowned singing coach Louis Bacher at the Academy of Music in Berlin. Already as a student she won numerous awards.
From the very beginning of her career Ria Ginster sang on concert platforms of first rank in Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and France as well as in Italy. She concentrated almost exclusively on concert performances and recitals (although she sang Mélisande and Suor Angelica in broadcasts). In 1931 she appeared in England where she was particularly admired in a number of oratorios. She returned to England every year and she was contracted by His Master’s Voice. Ria Ginster worked with all the great conductors of her time: Wilhelm Furtwängler, Otto Klemperer, Felix Weingartner, Eugen Jochum, Othmar Schoeck, Serge Koussevitzky, Sir Thomas Beecham, Sir John Barbirolli, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Herbert von Karajan, Clemens Krauss, among many others. From 1934 to 1939 she regularly visited the USA and Canada (she also signed a contract with Victor).
In 1938 Ria Ginster took over a class for concert singing at the Music Academy of Zürich where she remained more than 30 years. Her reputation as a singer was transmitted to her teaching and her class soon became an international one. After several concerts with Wilhelm Furtwängler she was invited in 1949 to work as a teacher at the Mozarteum Salzburg. As a visiting professor she also taught for a long time at several universities in the USA. Among her pupils were Ursula Buckel, Margrit Conrad, Annelies Gamper, Uta Graf, and Kurt Widmer. She died in Zürich in 1985, surrounded and admired by her grateful students. |
