Gundula Janowitz

The recorded working language is German. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are opera. Distinctions recorded are Grand Gold Decoration of Styria, Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the State of Vienna, Gramophone Award for Lifetime Achievement and Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis.

• Title — Kammersängerin • Name — Gundula Janowitz • Born — 2 August 1937 • Birthplace — Berlin, Germany • Occupation — Soprano singer • Organisation — Vienna State Opera • Years Active — 1959–1997 • Awards — Austrian Decoration for Science and Art

Janowitz was born in Berlin, Germany, but grew up in Graz, Austria, where she became a naturalised Austrian.[2] She studied at the Graz Conservatory in Austria, and had already begun to sing at the highest level by the end of the 1950s (Haydn's The Creation, with Herbert von Karajan in 1960). In 1959, Karajan engaged her as Barbarina in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Vienna State Opera, of which she became a permanent member in 1962. During the 1960s and 1970s, Janowitz became one of the most popular singers in her field internationally and she developed a comprehensive discography of works ranging from Bach to Richard Strauss. Those eminent conductors with whom she performed included Karajan, but also Otto Klemperer, Eugen Jochum, Leonard Bernstein, Rafael Kubelík, Karl Böhm, Georg Solti, and Carlos Kleiber. One of the emphases of Janowitz's work was the development of song recitals, which she gave several times at the Salzburg Festival. Following her vocal career, she was active as a vocal teacher. In 1990, she temporarily took over the position of Opera Director in Graz.[3] Janowitz appeared on many of the great stages of the world, including the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Bayreuth Festival, the Salzburg Easter Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, La Scala and the Royal Opera House. In 1980, she sang the part of the Countess in a now legendary new production of The Marriage of Figaro (with Georg Solti as conductor, Giorgio Strehler as director and Ezio Frigerio as set designer). Her recording of Schubert's Lieder for female voice has been twice awarded Germany's Deutscher Schallplattenpreis.[4] Janowitz's farewell to the operatic stage was on 18 May 1990, at the Vienna State Opera in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos (with Heinrich Hollreiser as conductor, and Filippo Sanjust as director and designer). She kept singing Lieder recitals until 1997, when she completely retired from performing. As well as being an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera and of the Academy of Music in Graz, she was appointed an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2000.

Janowitz's voice is recognizable by its pure,[5][6] "creamy" tone, and rapid vibrato.[8] Like her predecessor Maria Stader, who had a similar timbre to hers, and like her contemporary, Elizabeth Harwood, Janowitz mastered first and foremost the high and middle register and lyrical-emotional expression. She occasionally appeared in dramatic roles (Sieglinde, Leonore, Elsa) and comic roles (Marzelline, Rosalinde), but was most highly regarded for her appearances in full lyric soprano roles like Fiordiligi, Countess Rosina Almaviva, Pamina, Agathe, Arabella, Ariadne, and Countess Madeleine, as well as for her sacred music performances (the Angel Gabriel, The Creation). Of her interpretation of Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss, David Bowie wrote: "Although Eleanor Steber and Lisa Della Casa do fine interpretations of this monumental work, Janowitz’s performance [...] has been described, rightly, as transcendental. It aches with love for a life that is quietly fading. I know of no other piece of music, nor any performance, which moves me quite like this."[9] With a few exceptions, she avoided foreign-language roles (although recordings exist of her singing Don Carlos and Verdi's Requiem and all three Mozart/DaPonte operas in Italian). An excerpt of her portrayal of the Figaro Countess in the duettino "Canzonetta sull'aria" with Swiss soprano Edith Mathis features prominently in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption.[10]

Concerts • Gundula Janowitz: In Concert (recorded live) (1970, conductor Berislav Klobučar, Video Artists International Inc.) • Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op.125 "Choral" (1968, conductor/director Herbert von Karajan, Unitel Classica) • Bach Mass in B minor BWV 232 (1969, conductor Karl Richter; director Arne Arbom, Unitel Classica) • Mozart Requiem K.626 (1971, conductor Karl Böhm; director Hugo Käch, Unitel Classica) • Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem, op.45 (1978, conductor/director Herbert von Karajan, Unitel Classica) Operas • Così fan tutte (1969, conductor Karl Böhm; director Václav Kašlík, Unitel Classica) • Die Fledermaus (1972, conductor Karl Böhm; director Otto Schenk, Unitel Classica) • Arabella (1977, conductor Sir Georg Solti; director Otto Schenk, Unitel Classica) • Fidelio (1977, conductor Zubin Mehta; director Pierre Jourdan, Gaumont Distribution) • Ariadne auf Naxos (1978, conductor, Karl Böhm; director John Vernon, Unitel Classica) • Fidelio (1978, conductor, Leonard Bernstein; director Otto Schenk, Deutsche Grammophon)

Gundula Janowitz is recorded as having received Grand Gold Decoration of Styria, Decoration of Honour in Gold for Services to the State of Vienna and Gramophone Award for Lifetime Achievement.