Martha Mödl was a Germansoprano, and later a mezzo-soprano. She specialized in large dramatic roles such as Isolde, Brünnhilde, and particularly Kundry, and is considered, along with Astrid Varnay and Birgit Nilsson, one of the three major postwar Wagner sopranos. She was among the preeminent Wagner sopranos—and most compelling singing actresses—of the twentieth century. She was celebrated for her highly individualized interpretations, exceptional acting ability, intense stage presence, and "rich, sexy voice." Her career peaked in the early and mid-1950s, which included her Brünnhilde in Wilhelm Furtwängler's famous 1954 studio recording of Die Walküre and his 1953 live recording of Der Ring des Nibelungen, along with the title role from Fidelio with the same conductor also in 1953, and Isolde in Herbert von Karajan's 1952 Tristan und Isolde, live from Bayreuth. There have been fully ten recordings of her Kundry released commercially, most associated with the Bayreuth Festival, all from 1949–59. Although she is most known for her portrayals of Wagner's major heroines from 1951–55, her continuous performing career lasted in excess of half a century, well into the singer's eighties, through which her acting abilities remained intact.
Career
Mödl spent much of her early life as a bookkeeper and secretary in Nuremberg. At the age of 28, she began vocal studies at the Conservatory of her home town. Having made her debut as Hänsel in Remscheid in 1942, she then added Cherubino, Mignon and Azucena to her roles. Moving to Düsseldorf, she began performing Dorabella, Venus, Octavian, Eboli, Carmen and Klytemnestra. She was then invited to perform in Carmen at Covent Garden in 1949 is definitive, though she also recorded the role with Karajan, and went on to open the Wiener Staatsoper with it in 1955 under Karl Böhm. She performed as Kundry and Brünnhilde at the Metropolitan between 1956–60. Her early career saw three Verdi roles: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth with Joseph Keilberth at the Berlin Staatsoper, the contralto role Ulrica in Un Ballo in Maschera, and Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino. Three essentially complete recordings of her Brünnhilde have been published: the 1953 and 1955 Ring cycles conducted by Joseph Keilberth, and the 1953 Rome Ring cycle under Furtwängler. The Rome Cycle is frequently cited as being among the best cycles ever recorded, combining the century's leading Wagnerian conductor with an all-star cast and decent sound. The 1955 cycle's Siegfried has not been released, though Brünnhilde appears only for that opera's final duet. The Walküre from this production, along with Keilberth's Walküre from 1954, represent the two occasions on which Mödl and her great contemporary Astrid Varnay sang the two leading women opposite one another; in this case, Mödl was Brünnhilde. Kundry, however, was to be her defining role, singing it at every Bayreuth production from 1951–59 except for 1958, most famously in 1951, the year the festival re-opened, under Knappertsbusch, and in 1953, under Clemens Krauss. Furtwängler had engaged her to sing Brünnhilde for his studio recording of the Ring, of which, due to his death in 1954, only Die Walküre was ever recorded. The conductor commented: "Other singers can sing what they like; you'll always recognise them. With Martha Mödl, her voice identifies so closely with the role that you are only aware of the character on stage." She sang the role of Sieglinde only once - at the Bayreuth Festival in 1954 under Keilberth. This was the only time she ever performed Sieglinde. She and Birgit Nilsson share the distinction of each performing the role just once at Bayreuth, however Mödl sang this role literally only once, whereas Nilsson sang it in both 1957 spectacles. This 1954 Ring Cycle is the only time the three major postwar Wagner sopranos were recorded together—Varnay as Brünnhilde, Mödl as Sieglinde, and Nilsson as Ortlinde. It is also one of only two times Max Lorenz sang at Bayreuth after World War II, and his acting abilities lend the record further interest. During the 1960s, she had difficulties with her voice from singing such heavy parts for a decade, and returned to singing mezzo-soprano repertoire, such as Klytemnestra in Elektra, the Nurse and Waltraute. In 1968 she appeared as Ruth in a German-language production of Gilbert and Sullivan'sThe Pirates of Penzance, and in 1970 she appeared in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny in Cologne. From the 1970s, Mödl appeared in character parts: Grandmother Buryjovka, the Countess in The Queen of Spades in Nice which she was still performing in Mannheim at the age of 87. In 1997, she reminisced about her career in the film Love's Debris. A book of conversations with the singer was published in 1998 entitled So war mein Weg. She appeared at several premieres: Elisabeth Tudor, Kabale und Liebe, and Baal. She never married, and lived with her mother until the latter's death in 1989. Few details about her personal life survive. A brief video from six months prior to her death survives in which she appears with another famous dramatic soprano, Hildegard Behrens.
