The Hungarian mezzo-soprano Maria von Ilosvay won the 1937 International Singing Contest at Vienna. Thereafter she joined a touring opera company for two years – even traveling to America, in performances organized by Sol Hurok – before joining the Hamburg Opera in 1940. She sang at Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam, and Salzburg,
Ms. von Ilosvay participated in the first post-war Bayreuth Festivals. In her book New Bayreuth, Penelope Turing writes with admiration of the mezzo in such RING Cycle roles as Erda, Waltraute, and the First Norn.
At the Salzburg Festival, Ms. von Ilosvay took part in the first staged performance of LE VIN HERBE by Frank Martin in 1948, and in the premiere of Carl Orf’f”s ANTIGONAE in 1949. With the ensemble of the Hamburg Staatsoper, she was a guest at the Edinburgh Festival, and in 1956 sang Jocasta in Stravinsky’s OEDIPUS REX at the Holland Festival. Also in 1956, she appeared as a guest artist at London’s Royal Opera House.
In 1967, Maria von Ilosvay sang Marcellina in a filmed German-language ‘studio’ performance of Mozart’s NOZZE DI FIGARO. Her scene with the brilliant Susanna of Edith Mathis is a delight.
Ms. von Ilosvay recorded the role of Erda twice, and was the mezzo-soprano soloist on a recording of the Verdi REQUIEM with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. She is also The Mother on Herbert von Karajan’s recording of HANSEL UND GRETEL. She did a great deal of concert work, and was a noted recitalist.
Maria von Ilosvay passed away at Hamburg in 1987.
Oberon's Glade 