I posted this in 2018, and I think that it is time to repost it. Ljuba Welitsch is well known to certain opera lovers, but may not be known by many people today. She is worth listening to.
As promised, here is Ljuba Welitsch singing the final scene of Salome. There never was and never has been a Soprano who so engaged her public in large lyric roles. But she will be known forever as Salome. There are reports that when she performed this role at the old Met, the audience gave her a 15-minutes of standing ovation.
Ljuba Welitsch has been described as a meteor which flashed across the firmament of opera. Her major career was short, but when she was in her prime, just after WWII, there was nothing like her in the German repertory. She was most famous for her interpretation of Strauss’s Salome.
What made Welitsch special? In the production of tone, there was no drag anywhere on the voice. What do I mean by that? The voice was entirely free with no grab in the throat or tightening of the tongue anywhere. The breath and the tone passed through the throat to the resonating cavities of the head. There is no overdarkening of sound, which is an unfortunate phenomenon that we get today. The pitch is always on the high side of the note, as if it is sliding up to the next tone, but is always in tune. When she was in her prime, Liuba was a miracle of signing.
Background
Richard Strauss, Salome, Letzte Szene
Ah! Du wolltest mich nicht deinen Mund
küssen lassen, Jochanaan!
Wohl, ich werde ihn jetzt küssen!
Ich will mit meinen Zähnen hineinbeissen,
wie man in eine reife Frucht beissen mag.
Ja, ich will ihn jetzt küssen, deinen Mund,
Jochanaan.
Ich hab’ es gesagt. Hab’ ich’s nicht gesagt?
Ja, ich hab’ es gesagt.
Ah! Ah! Ich will ihn jetzt küssen…
Aber warum siehst du mich nicht an,
Jochanaan?
Deine Augen, die so schrecklich waren,
so voller Wut und Verachtung,
sind jetzt geschlossen.
Warum sind sie geschlossen?
Öffne doch die Augen, erhebe deine Lider,
Jochanaan!
Warum siehst du mich nicht an?
Hast du Angst vor mir, Jochanaan, dass
du mich nicht ansehen willst?…
Und deine Zunge, sie spricht kein Wort,
Jochanaan, diese Scharlachnatter,
die ihren Geifer gegen mich spie.
Es ist seltsam, nicht?
Wie kommt es, dass diese rote Natter sich
nicht mehr rührt?
Du sprachst böse Worte gegen mich, gegen
mich, Salome, die Tochter der Herodias,
Prinzessin von Judea.
Nun wohl! Ich lebe noch, aber du bist tot,
und dein Kopf,
dein Kopf gehört mir.
Ich kann mit ihm tun, was ich will.
Ich kann ihn den Hunden vorwerfen und
den Vögeln der Luft.
Was die Hunde übrig lassen, sollen die
Vögel der Luft verzehren…
Ah! Ah! Jochanaan, Jochanaan, du
warst schön.
Dein Leib war eine Elfenbeinsäule auf silbernen
Füssen.
Er war ein Garten voller Tauben in der
Silberlilien Glanz.
Nichts in der Welt war so weiss wie
dein Leib.
Nichts in der Welt was so schwarz wie
dein Haar.
In der ganzen Welt war nichts so rot wie
dein Mund.
Deine Stimme war ein Weihrauchgefäss,
und wenn ich dich ansah, hörte ich
geheimnisvolle Musik…
Oh! Warum hast du mich nicht angesehen,
Jochanaan?
Du legtest über deine Augen die Binde
eines, der seinen Gott schauen wollte.
Wohl! Du hast deinen Gott gesehn,
Jochanaan, aber mich, mich, mich hast du
nie gesehn.
Hättest du mich gesehn, du hättest mich
geliebt!
Ich dürste nach deiner Schönheit,
Ich hungre nach deinem Leib,
Nicht Wein noch Äpfel können mein
Verlangen stillen…
Was soll ich jetzt tun, Jochanaan?
Nicht die Fluten, noch die grossen Wasser
können dieses brünstige Begehren löschen…
Oh! Warum sahst du mich nicht an?
Hättest du mich angesehn, du hättest
mich geliebt.
Ich weiss es wohl, du hättest mich geliebt.
Und das Geheimnis der Liebe ist grösser
als das Geheimnis des Todes…
Ah! Ich habe deinen Mund geküsst,
Jochanaan.
Ah! Ich habe ihn geküsst, deinen Mund,
es war ein bitterer Geschmack auf deinen
Lippen…
Hat es nach Blut geschmeckt?
Nein! Doch es schmeckte vielleicht nach
Liebe…
Sie sagen, dass die Liebe bitter schmecke…
Allein, was tut’s?
Was tut’s?
Ich habe deinen Mund geküsst, Jochanaan,
Ich habe ihn geküsst, deinen Mund.
Richard Strauss, Salome, Final Scene
Ah! You would not let me
kiss your mouth, Jochanaan!
Well, I will kiss it now,
I will bite it with my teeth
as one bites a ripe fruit.
Yes, I will kiss your mouth,
Jochanaan.
I said it. Did I not say it?
Yes, I said it.
Ah! Ah! I will kiss it now…
But why don’t you look at me,
Jochanaan?
Your eyes that were so terrible,
so full of rage and scorn,
are shut now.
Why are they shut?
Open your eyes, lift up your eyelids,
Jochanaan!
Why don’t you look at me?
Are you afraid of me, Jochanaan, that
you will not look at me?…
And your tongue, it says nothing now,
Jochanaan, that scarlet viper that spat
its venom upon me.
It is strange, is it not?
How is it that the red viper
stirs no more?
You spoke evil words against me, against
me, Salome, daughter of Herodias,
Princess of Judea!
Well, Jochanaan, I am still alive, but you
are dead, and your head,
your head belongs to me.
I can do with it what I will.
I can throw it to the dogs and to the
birds of the air.
That which the dogs leave, the birds of
the air shall devour…
Ah! Jochanaan, Jochanaan, you were
beautiful.
Your body was a column of ivory set on
a silver socket.
It was a garden full of doves in the
splendor of silver lilies.
There was nothing in the world so white
as your body.
There was nothing in the world so black
as your hair.
In the whole world there was nothing so
red as your mouth.
Your voice was a censer,
and when I looked you, I heard
mysterious music…
Ah! Why did you not look at me,
Jochanaan?
You put over your eyes the blindfold of
one who wanted to see his God.
Well! You have seen your God,
Jochanaan, but me, me, me, you have
never seen.
Had you seen me, you would have loved
me.
I crave your beauty,
I am hungry for your body,
Neither wine nor apples can appease my
desire…
What shall I do now, Jochanaan?
Neither the floods nor the great waters
can quench my passion.
Oh! Why did you not look at me?
Had you looked at me, you would have
loved me.
I know that you would have loved me.
And the mystery of love is greater than
the mystery of death…
Ah! I have kissed your mouth,
Jochanaan.
Ah! I have kissed your mouth.
There was a bitter taste on your
lips.
Was it the taste of blood?
No! But perhaps it was the taste of
love…
They say that love has a bitter taste…
But what does it matter?
What does it matter?
I have kissed your mouth, Jochanaan.
I have kissed your mouth.
Ljuba Welitsch
July 10, 1913 – September 1, 1996
Lyuba Welitsch was born on July 10, 1913 in Borissovo, Bulgaria and died September 21 1996, was a Bulgarian, later Austrian, lirico-spinto soprano. She studied singing at Sofia Conservatory with professor Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin. She first appeared in Sofia in 1936. Engagements followed in Graz, Hamburg, Munich and finally at the Vienna State Opera.
Her most famous role was that of Salome, which she performed under the composer, Richard Strauss, himself in 1944 on his 80th birthday. She sang the same role for her London debut in 1947 and her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City on February 4, 1949.