On August 20, 2026, German soprano Anny Schlemm died at the age of 97.

Born on Feb. 22, 1929 in Neu-Isenburg, her parents ran a hairdresser salon there and her father, Friedrich Schlemm, was sent to voice teacher in Frankfurt by the tenor Franz Völker who also lived in Neu-Isenburg. After being trained as a singer he moved to Halle to be a chorister at the Halle Opera House, while his wife worked in the administration of the opera house.

As a young student Schlemm studied voice in Halle and in Berlin. She went on to make her operatic debut in 1946 at the Halle Opera and in 1949 she joined both the Staatsoper Berlin and the Komische Oper Berlin.

At the Komische Oper Berlin, she participated in productions by Walter Felsenstein including Desdemona in Verdi’s “Otello,” and in 1963 one of her signature roles there, Boulotte in Offenbach’s “Barbe-bleue.” She was also a member of the Cologne Opera from 1951 and of the Oper Frankfurt from 1961.

Schlemm went on to perform at the Wiener Staatsoper Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House in London, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Paris Opéra, the Holland Festival, Hamburg State Opera, Staatsoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and at the Bayreuth Festival

She also went on to participate in the world premieres of Fortner’s “Bluthochzeit,” as the Bride and of Wimberger’s “Dame Kobold.” Among her other roles included Cherubino and Susanna in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro,” the title role of Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” Elvira in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Micaela in Bizet’s “Carmen,” Agathe in Weber’s “Der Freischütz,” and the title roles in Puccini’s “Manon Lescaut,” “Der Rosenkavalier” and Arabella.”

Later in her career she took on dramatic and darker roles including Klytemnästra in “Elektra” and Herodias in “Salome” as well as the Kostelnicka in “Jenůfa.”

For her work in opera, Schlemm was named Kammersängerin of the Oper Frankfurt, the Joana Maria Gorvin Prize, and an honorary member of the Halle Opera, the KOB and the Oper Frankfurt.

In her hometown, Anny Schlemm Prize was established and has awarded such singers as Paula Murrihy, Julia Dawson and Bianca Andrew. The prize was abandoned in 2024.