Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Never Sang for Hitler The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888–1976 Lotte Lehmann ranks among the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. She was a favorite of Richard Strauss, and over her lifetime she became the friend of other famous men: Bruno Walter, Arturo Toscanini, and Thomas Mann. She had a famous encounter with Hermann Goring,¨ in which he claimed that he wanted to make her the foremost singer in Nazi Germany. By the time of her final major performance in 1951, she was considered one of the finest singing actresses of all time. Rather than a traditional biography, this book aims to be both a descriptive narrative of Lehmann’s life and a critical analysis of the interconnections of the artist and society. Michael H. Kater describes the varying phases of Lehmann’s life, as well as the sociocultural settings in which she finds herself – whether in the Wilhemine Empire, the First Austrian Republic, Nazi Germany, or the United States. Kater’s use of Lehmann’s personal and other papers reshapes much of what is known about her life and career. Michael H. Kater has studied history, sociology, and music at the Universities of Toronto, Munich, and Heidelberg. Since 1967, he has taught at York University, Toronto, from 1991 to the present as Distinguished Research Professor of History. Kater has served as Visiting Hannah Professor of the History of Medicine at both McMaster University in Hamilton and the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a Canada Council Senior Killam Fellow and the recipient of the Konrad Adenauer Research Prize of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. His main research interest is the society, politics, and culture of modern Germany, and he is the author of many books, several of them prize-winning. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Other Books by Michael H. Kater Das “Ahnenerbe” der SS, 1935–1945: Ein Beitrag zur Kulturpolitik des Dritten Reiches (1974) Studentenschaft und Rechtsradikalismus in Deutschland, 1918–1933: Eine sozialgeschichtliche Studie zur Bildungskrise in der Weimarer Republik (1975) The Nazi Party: A Social Profile of Members and Leaders, 1919–1945 (1983) Doctors Under Hitler (1989) Different Drummers: Jazz in the Culture of Nazi Germany (1992) The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich (1997) Composers of the Nazi Era: Eight Portraits (2000) Hitler Youth (2004) © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Never Sang for Hitler The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888–1976 MICHAEL H. KATER York University © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao˜ Paulo, Delhi Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521873925 C Michael H. Kater 2008 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2008 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kater, Michael H., 1937– Never sang for Hitler : the life and times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888–1976 / Michael H. Kater. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. isbn 978-0-521-87392-5 (hardback) 1. Lehmann, Lotte. 2. Sopranos (Singers) – Biography. I. Title. ml420.l33k37 2008 782.1092–dc22 2007025323 [b] isbn 978-0-521-87392-5 hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information To Barbara, who inspired me to write this book and whose constant support sustained my efforts. © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Contents List of Illustrations page ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xiii 1 Childhood and Apprentice Years 1 Perleberg and Berlin 1 Coming Out in Hamburg 15 2 Rise to Fame in Vienna 38 From Empire to Republic 38 A Prima Donna in the Staatsoper 50 Private Times 76 3 Climax and Crises 91 New Challenges in Vienna 91 Professional Life and Private Affairs 112 America 136 4 Between Third Reich Seduction and American Opportunity 153 Lotte Lehmann, the Lion, and the Third Reich 153 New York 166 5 Between Touring and Teaching, 1940–1950 198 Frances Holden, Santa Barbara, and the New World 198 Professional Tranformations 221 6 Triumphs and Burdens of Old Age, 1951–1976 249 The Music Academy of the West 249 Master Pupils 262 At Dusk 275 Epilogue 301 Notes 313 Index 381 vii © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Illustrations 1 Lotte Lehmann in Perleberg, ca. 1894. page 4 2 Lotte Lehmann, Karl Lehmann, Marie Lehmann, and Fritz Lehmann in Perleberg, ca. 1900. 6 3 Lotte Lehmann as Agathe in Der Freischutz¨ , Hamburg, 1911. 20 4 Lotte Lehmann as Elsa in Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, Hamburg, 1914. 21 5 Handbill announcing Lotte Lehmann’s debut´ as Composer in Richard Strauss’s opera Ariadne auf Naxos at the Vienna Hofoper, October 4, 1916. 40 6 From the left: Richard Strauss, Lotte Lehmann, Alfred Jerger, and Lothar Wallerstein in Salzburg, date unknown. 108 7 Fritz Lehmann, Otto Krause, Lotte Lehmann, and Fritz’s wife Clara, ca. 1930. 126 8 Lotte Lehmann and Arturo Toscanini, date unknown. 132 9 Lotte Lehmann and Erno¨ Balogh, 1934. 148 10 Lotte Lehmann as the Marschallin on the cover of Time magazine, February 18, 1935. 177 11 Lotte Lehmann and Otto Krause on the French Riviera in the summer of 1938. 186 12 Constance Hope’s wedding, New York, 1936. Kleinchen is third from left; behind Hope’s mother stands Ezio Pinza, beside him Lotte Lehmann. Lauritz Melchior is chatting with Edith Behrens, behind the bride and groom. 191 13 From the left: Frances Holden, Geraldine Farrar, Lotte Lehmann, and Viola Westervelt-Douglas, New York, ca. 1939. 196 14 Lotte Lehmann and Frances Holden at Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, 1948. 202 15 From the right: Gen. Warren Fales, Frances Holden, and Lotte Lehmann at Camp Roberts, California, April 1943. 215 16 Thomas Mann, Lotte Lehmann, Bruno Walter, and Erika Mann at Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, early 1940s. 217 17 Lotte Lehmann, Lauritz Melchior, Mia and Robert Hecht, and Paul Ulanowsky with Kleinchen in Atlanta, December 1939. 230 18 Danny Thomas, Lotte Lehmann, and Margaret O’Brien singing “God Bless America” in The Big City, Hollywood, 1947. 236 ix © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information x Illustrations 19 Lotte Lehmann’s sketch of scenes from Der Rosenkavalier, date unknown. 242 20 Lotte Lehmann with Music Academy students Grace Bumbry and Luba Tcheresky (seated right) at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, March 26, 1958. 255 21 Lotte Lehmann’s watercolor depiction of Frances Holden at Hope Ranch, date unknown. 290 22 Theresia Heinz-Lehmann and Fritz Lehmann in Santa Barbara, early 1950s. 292 23 Lotte Lehmann with an unknown friend at Hope Ranch, Santa Barbara, 1973. 298 © Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-87392-5 - Never Sang for Hitler: The Life and Times of Lotte Lehmann, 1888-1976 Michael H. Kater Frontmatter More information Acknowledgments The number of people I have to thank for helping me write this book is very large, and I cannot possibly list them all by name. First in line are interlibrary- loan librarians at York University, who satisfied my constant craving for books and articles, which arrived from North America and Europe. Without them, this book simply could not have been written. Their names are Mary Lehane, Gladys Fung, and Sandra Snell. This biography, however, is based for the most part on primary documents, as they became available for first-time use in the late 1980s and during the 1990s. Those documents contrasted sharply with three preexisting biographies and Lehmann’s own memoirs of 1937, which were of only limited value. In the former category, Beaumont Glass’s Lotte Lehmann: A Life in Opera and Song (Santa Barbara, 1988) is the work of a former piano coach who had assisted Lehmann in her California teaching, and while on the basis of, at that time, limited evidence it gets many facts right, it is in essence a product of hagiography.