Zdenka Fassbender & Paul Bender

as Elektra & Orest in "Elektra" by Strauss

Paul Bender
28 July 1875-25 November 1947
German Bass
Studied in Berlin with Luise Ress and Baptist Hoffmann. Stage debut in 1900 at the Opera House of Breslau (as a hermit in 'Der Freischütz' by Weber), where he remained until 1903; In 1903 at Munich court opera, and remained for 30 years. On 11.27.1903 he was in the premiere of 'Le donne curiose' and on 19.3.1906 in the of 'I quattro rusteghi' by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari with. On 06.12.1917 he sang at the Prinzregententheater in the premiere of Pfitzner’s 'Palestrina' he created the role of Pope Pius V. In Munich in the premiere of Massenet's “ Don Quichotte 'the title role. . In 1930 he worked in Munich in the premiere of Julius Weismann's 'The Ghost Sonata', 1931 Hans Pfitzner's 'The Heart', on 02.05.1939 it in the world premiere of 'The Moon' by C.Orff as Peter with, 1938 and 1939 sang in the Ring performances at La Scala the Fafner. He has performed at all major German theaters, in At the Bayreuth Festival he joined in 1902 as Fasolt in 'Rheingold' on. Guest performances around the world Monnaie Brussels ,Théâtre des Champs-Elyses Paris , Covent Garden Opera London. Guest performances around the world. Vienna , Zurich.,New York Metropolitan Opera; . In 1926 he sang at the Festival of Salzburg Osmin in the 'Abduction from the Seraglio'. , 1938 and 1939 sang in the Ring performances at La Scala the He, in Amsterdam and Geneva (1931), Stockholm (1935 in concerts), in Budapest (1929 as a concert soloist and 1931) and in Spain. On stage he mastered a repertoire of more than one hundred major roles.He was a much-admired concert and Lieder singer. In 1931 he became a professor at the Munich Academy of Music.


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.