Opera Singer. A soprano of varied repertoire, she was a mainstay of the Vienna State Opera for over 20 years. Born at Kormend in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, little is known of her early life; trained initially in Budapest she moved-on to Naples where she studied with famed tenor Fernando de Lucia before finally arriving in Vienna. Maria made her 1923 operatic bow at Budapest as Sulamith from Karl Goldmark's "The Queen of Sheba". Signed by the Vienna State Opera in 1925 she remained there until 1946 and was probably best known as the title Ice Princess of Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot". Maria's other roles in the Austrian capital included at least three Mozartian characters, the Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute", Constanze of "The Abduction From the Seraglio", and Donna Anna from "Don Giovanni", several of Giuseppe Verdi's more difficult heroines including both Leonores ("Il Trovatore" and "La Forza del Destino"), the title lead of "Aida", and Amelia from "Un Ballo in Maschera", Brunnhilde in Wagner's "Ring", and the doomed lead of Puccini's "Tosca". Though she sang little outside of Vienna Nemeth was heard at the Paris Opera in 1928 as Constanze and at Covent Garden, London, as Turandot in 1931. Following her retirement from the stage she continued to reside in Vienna; a portion of her recorded legacy remains available on CD.
Opera Singer. A soprano of varied repertoire, she was a mainstay of the Vienna State Opera for over 20 years. Born at Kormend in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire, little is known of her early life; trained initially in Budapest she moved-on to Naples where she studied with famed tenor Fernando de Lucia before finally arriving in Vienna. Maria made her 1923 operatic bow at Budapest as Sulamith from Karl Goldmark's "The Queen of Sheba". Signed by the Vienna State Opera in 1925 she remained there until 1946 and was probably best known as the title Ice Princess of Giacomo Puccini's "Turandot". Maria's other roles in the Austrian capital included at least three Mozartian characters, the Queen of the Night in "The Magic Flute", Constanze of "The Abduction From the Seraglio", and Donna Anna from "Don Giovanni", several of Giuseppe Verdi's more difficult heroines including both Leonores ("Il Trovatore" and "La Forza del Destino"), the title lead of "Aida", and Amelia from "Un Ballo in Maschera", Brunnhilde in Wagner's "Ring", and the doomed lead of Puccini's "Tosca". Though she sang little outside of Vienna Nemeth was heard at the Paris Opera in 1928 as Constanze and at Covent Garden, London, as Turandot in 1931. Following her retirement from the stage she continued to reside in Vienna; a portion of her recorded legacy remains available on CD.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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