Leonie Rysanek - The Soprano Queen

For almost half a century Leonie Rysanek was one of the world's most sought-after singers. Her radiant soprano voice and especially the famous Rysanek scream were acclaimed from Bayreuth to New York. During an extensive career she sang in around 2,700 performances, and the 10 CDs in this box set provide the first all-embracing collection of this extraordinary soprano's recordings.

Born and trained in Vienna, the celebrated soprano Leonie Rysanek made her name in the opera houses of Munich, Vienna, Berlin, Milan, London and Paris. She began her engagements at the Vienna State Opera in 1954 as Senta in Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, and with this role also celebrated subsequent triumphs at Bayreuth, at her d�but in the USA (San Francisco in 1956), and thereafter at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Her fame in America reached its peak when in 1959 she sang the role of Lady Macbeth at the Met in place of Maria Callas. Later in life she was granted honorary membership of the Vienna State Opera, and the Vienna Philharmonic awarded her the coveted Silver Rose.

Personnel: Leonie Rysanek (soprano), Bayreuth Festival Orchestra & Chorus, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Herbert von Karajan (conductor), New York Met Orchestra & Chorus, Erich Leinsdorf, Thomas Schippers, Fausto Cleva (conductor), Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Wilhelm Sch�chter (conductor), Vienna Philharmonic, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Karl B�hm, Erich Leinsdorf (conductor) and others