Karajan artists: Edith Mathis – a soprano for “heaven’s delights”

Edith Mathis (b. 1938) is a Swiss soprano who worked intensely with Karajan in the 1970s. No wonder their collaboration revolved largely around Mozart because Mathis was praised as one of the finest Mozart singers of her generation. Around 1962, Karajan heard her as a young beginner. She recalled in 1993:

“I had a guest appearance in Vienna, in the Redoutensaal of the Hofburg […] and Karajan was sitting secretly in a box, listening to see if this young singer might be an option for his ensemble [at the State Opera] and he really called me into his office afterwards and offered me a contract. But I was so shy and timid and I was so afraid of the infamous Viennese intrigues that I preferred to go to Berlin.”

Subsequently, Mathis appeared in first performances of operas by Einem, Henze and Menotti in Hamburg and Berlin. In 1971, Karajan cast her for the first time as Marzelline in Beethoven’s “Fidelio” in Salzburg – a part she also performed seven years later at the Salzburg Easter Festival.

Between 1972 and 1976, her live performances with Karajan were dedicated almost exclusively to Mozart. She was Susanna in “The Marriage of Figaro” (according to the Neue Züricher Zeitung, she only stood in shortly before the opening and was brought to the rehearsal in Karajan’s own plane) and Pamina in “The Magic Flute”. The latter was a difficult production which Karajan disliked because of Giorgio Strehler’s staging. In the studio she worked with Karajan for the first time on his only recording of Mendelssohn’s 2^nd symphony “Lobgesang” in 1973. In 1979, it was again a vocal symphony that brought Karajan and Mathis together. In his only recording of Mahler’s 4^th symphony, she sang the famous soprano solo “Wir genießen die himmlischen Freuden (We enjoy heaven’s delights)” in the last movement. Their only joint opera recording was also unique for Karajan. “The Magic Flute” in the following year, with Edith Mathis again as Pamina, was his first digital recording. The final testimonial of Karajan’s and Mathis’ collaboration was a very suitable work. Both of them loved oratorios and sacred music so Haydn’s “Creation” was perfect for Mathis’ “heavenly” soprano. After five previous concerts, their last performance in August 1982 was recorded live by Deutsche Grammophon and is still available.

 

We’ve prepared playlists with Karajan and Edith Mathis. Listen to. them here.

—  P.R. Jenkins