Few artists go through as many transitions as Helga Dernesch did in her career.

Born on Feb. 3, 1939, the Austrian artist started her career as a mezzo before transitioning to a lyric soprano. From there she would turn into a dramatic soprano and in her later career she returned to a mezzo.

She studied at the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and made her debut in 1961 as Marina in “Boris Godunov.” She made her Bayreuth debut in 1965 and two years later she appear as Elisabeth in “Tannhäuser” in Bayreuth.

She wound up singing all around the world in such cities as Zurich, Amsterdam, London, Paris, New York, and Chicago, among others. At the Metropolitan Opera, her repertoire was full of mezzo roles (she debuted there in 1985), but in her recordings with Herbert Von Karajan, she took on pure soprano leads.

When she returned to mezzo roles in the 1980s, she was picked for major premieres such as Aribert Reimann’s “Lear.”

Signature Roles

Dernesch was a noted Wagnerian taking on a wide range of soprano and mezzo roles. She saw her first Wagner opera at age 12 and, per her own admission, was hooked. In the Ring alone, she sang such roles as Fricka, Brünnhilde, Sieglinde, Erda, and Waltraute, among others (she did one of the Norns). She also took on the roles of Isolde and Brangäne in “Tristan und Isolde.”

She was also a noted Marschallin in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” and a famed Leonora in “Fidelio.”

Watch and Listen

Here she is in “Tannhäuser.”

And here is an interview.

Here is her Liebestod.

And here she is as a mezzo in “Elektra.”