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Born: September 16, 1910 - Vienna, Austria
Died: January 28, 2006 - Hamden, Connecticut, USA |
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The Austrian-born American contralto, Herta [or Hertha] Glaz [actually Glatz], attended the Music Academy at Breslau beginning at the age of fourteen. There she studied singing and piano. She was a pupil of Rosa Papier-Paumgartner in Vienna.
Herta Glaz made her operatic debut in 1931 at the Opera House of Breslau as Erda in Der Ring des Nibelungen, presaging a successful career. However, as a Jewish she was forced to leave Germany in 1933. She then toured Austria and Scandinavia as a concert singer. In 1935-1936 she sang at the German Theater in Prague. In 1936 she made North America tour with the Salzburg Opera Guild. While there the national socialists marched into Austria and she could no longer return home, and remained in the USA.
In the USA Herta Glaz unfolded an extensive concert activity. So in 1937 she sang in Los Angeles Lied von der Erde by Gustav Mahler, had a great success in Matthäus-Passion (BWV 244) under Otto Klemperer, and gave concerts in Paris. In 1939 and from 1944 to 1951 she could be heard at the Opera of San Francisco in numerous roles. From 1940 to 1942 she sang at the Opera of Chicago. In December 1942 she made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as Amneris in Aida, and remained on its roster until 1956 [14 seasons, 333 performances, 27 roles, 25 works]. Here she appeared also as Annina in the Rosenkavalier, as Nicklausse in Hoffmanns Erzählungen by Offenbach, as Marcellina in Nozze di Figaro, as Magdalene in Meistersingern, in addition, in smaller roles. She undertook also a concert tour to Russia. She was no less estimated as a Lieder singer.
Herta Glaz taught voice at the Manhattan School of Music in New York since 1956, and at the University of Southern California, retiring in 1977. She was temporarily married with the Polish-born American conductor Josef Rosenstock (1895-1985). In 1955, she got married with Fritz Redlich, a Viennese psychiatrist, who taught at Yale. Herta Glaz is living now in Hamden, CT, USA.
Recordings: Victor (Two Schubert Lieder), Columbia (Meistersinger - Quartet, Love duet from Tristan as Brangäne, with Helen Traubel and Torsten Ralf) and MGM-Records. She sang on Cetra Opera-Live as Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, on Raritas as Mary in Fliegenden Holländer, both live recordings from the Metropolitan Opera of 1950, on Melodram as Annina in Rosenkavalier (Metropolitan Opera, 1953), Renaissance (Schubert Lieder). |
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Source: Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of 20th Century Classical Musicians (1997); OPERAlmanac Mailing List (September 2004); Mild und Leise Website, English translation by Aryeh Oron (July 2005); Photos 01-07 by courtesy of Marcelo Galvao
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (April 2004, September 2004, July 2005); George F. Mahl PH.D Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Psychology, Yale University, and his daughter Barbara J Mahl (September 2005); Manfred Krugmann (Dates, May 2011); Yoël L. Arbeitman (Photo 08, June 2011) |
