Although I never had an opportunity to see the German contralto Ortrun Wenkel (above) onstage, just watching her as Erda in the premiere telecast of Patrice Chéreau’s 1976 Bayreuth RING Cycle was enough to put her in my pantheon of exceptional operatic artists.
She passed away on December 21st, 2025, at the age of 83.
Read about her life and career here.
Watch and listen to Ms. Wenkel’s Erda being summoned by the god Wotan (the late, lamented Donald McIntyre) in Act III of SIEGFRIED here. Pierre Boulez is the conductor.
Oberon's Glade 