Zdenka Fassbender

Zdenka Fassbender
12. December 1879 -14. March 1954
Czech soprano

Studied with Sophie Loewe Destinn in Prague. In 1899 she debuted at the Court Theatre of Karlsruhe as Rachel in 'La Juive' by Halévy . In 1903 she was in the premiere of the opera 'Ilsebill' of Fr. Klose in the title role . Munich Court 1905-1924, the most prominent members of the Munich Court Opera (known since 1918 as Bayerische Staatsoper). Performed roles such as Venus in 'Tannhäuser', Ortrud in "Lohengrin", Isolde in "Tristan und Isolde"', Brünnhilde in "the Ring Cycle", Kundry in "Parsifal', Santuzza in 'Cavalleria Rusticana' Iphigenie in Gluck's 'Iphigénie en Tauride', Alceste by Gluck, Valentine in the 'Huguenots' by Meyerbeer, Dido in 'Les Troyens' by Berlioz, Katharina in 'The Taming of the Shrew' by.Goetz, Minneleide in the "Rose vom Liebesgarten" by Hans Pfitzner, the Gundula in ''Der Bergsee' by Bittner , Leonore in Beethoven's 'Fidelio'. She appeared in the Munich premieres of operas 'Tiefland' by d'Albert (1908 as Martha), 'Elektra' by R. Strauss (1908 title role), 'Tosca' (1909 title role), 'Der Rosenkavalier' (1911 Marschallin) , 'Der arme Heinrich' by H.Pfitzner (1913 Hilde), 'Parsifal' (1914 as Kundry) and 'Mona Lisa' by von Schillings (1917 title role) Guest performances she sang in 1910 and 1913 in London, Elektra and Isolde conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, 1912-14 in the performances of the Ring Cycle at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. In 1904 she made guest appearances at the Vienna Court Opera, 1909 at the Berlin Court Opera, also in other major opera houses in Germany, Stuttgart, at the court theaters of Wiesbaden and Mannheim and at the Opera House of Cologne. In 1928 she appeared again at the Munich Staatsoper as Elektra.