Edith Mathis

Career

Mathis was born, and studied, in Lucerne, and made her operatic debut in 1956 as the second boy in Die Zauberflöte. She continued gaining stage experience in her native Switzerland for the next three years. Her first appearance abroad was at the Cologne Opera in 1959. In the early 1960s she made frequent guest appearances in Hamburg, at the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Salzburg Festival. In 1963, she became a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She made her debuts at Covent Garden and the Met in 1970. The 1970s saw her appear in great opera houses of Europe: the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Opéra de Paris.

In addition to her operatic career, Mathis made numerous concert tours in Lieder recitals, including tours to Japan, the USA, Australia, Russia, and Israel. She recorded Mahler's Fourth Symphony, singing the Finale's 'Child's View of Heaven', with the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert Karajan for Deutsche Grammophon.

Mathis also became a sought-after teacher.

Repertory

Parts of Mozart operas were one of her specialties, with her roles including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Despina in Così fan tutte and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. She recorded the latter role in 1980, opposite Karin Ott and Janet Perry, under Herbert Karajan. Other roles she sang include Sophie and the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss and Agathe and Ännchen in Weber's Der Freischütz.

Mathis also sang in the premieres of Gottfried von Einem's Der Zerrissene, Henze's Der junge Lord, Heinrich Sutermeister's Le roi Berénger, and Menotti's Help, Help, the Globolinks! She was also a singer of oratorios and Lieder. Her Lieder recordings include Volume 21 of the complete songs of Franz Schubert for Hyperion Records.

Several of her most notable recorded roles in Mozartian opera include Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro for the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Karl Böhm conducting, as well as Ilia in Idomeneo with the Staatskapelle Dresden. A re-released recording of Don Giovanni with the Vienna Philharmonic and Karl Böhm from the 1977 Salzburg Festival features her in one of her best-known roles, Zerlina. A performance by Mathis as Cherubino is available on a DVD from the Salzburg Festival of 1966, with the Vienna Philharmonic under Böhm, where she sings alongside Ingvar Wixell, Claire Watson, Reri Grist, and Walter Berry.

Mathis' part of Susanna in Sull'aria...che soave zeffiretto, a duet from The Marriage of Figaro, with the Austrian soprano Gundula Janowitz, features prominently in the film The Shawshank Redemption.

Personal life

Mathis was married to conductor and pianist Bernhard Klee, with whom she often performed. She lives in her native Switzerland.

Awards

Discography (partial)