Most people know what opera means, so I’ll just mention a few terms and elements and how they connect with Lotte Lehmann.

First, you know that opera is a play where the lines are sung instead of spoken. The dramatic element sometimes is lost if the story is silly, unimportant or the singing-actors forget that there's a drama involved and only make beautiful (we hope) music. And there are certainly operas where the music is more important than the drama. But these aren't the operas in which Lehmann sang.

Lehmann was involved in creating breathing, believable characters. When they suffered (or triumphed) the audience was completely involved because of Lehmann's identification with the complete personality she created. And this isn't meant to imply that Lehmann didn't sing beautifully. She was able to bring her love of the words to the service of the drama. Listen to her “Der Männer Sippe” portion of the first act of Wagner’s Die Walküre. The depth of her involvement in Sieglinde’s situation is palpable; when we consider that it’s more than 65 years since the recording was made, the intensity of the singing is all the more incredible. And the diction is clear without being obvious. Every word is telling. For me, this is the greatest achievement possible on the opera stage. Complete drama plus complete music.

Next, let us consider the word “aria”. In general terms it is a set piece in an opera with a real beginning and end to it. Sometimes the action or drama ceases and the singer stands still, faces the audience and sings. At other times the singer is involved in the drama and action of the opera and continues to do some action or faces the person she's singing to. This can be arranged so that person faces away from the audience and the aria singer can face out and be heard.

In Lehmann's case we’re generally dealing with arias recorded out of the context of the whole opera. There are some fairly complete operas available. Der Rosenkavalier has major “highlights” and we have the first two acts of Die Walküre substantially complete {recorded in 4 minute increments!). But neither of these operas have such set pieces (arias) as did the operas of Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi and Puccini. Wagner and Strauss were eager that the dramatic flow not be impeded by the stop and start quality that separated arias from the ongoing music.

When an excerpt was extracted from the opera for a recording, Lehmann was still able to sing the aria and bring the character and situation to life. From all accounts Lehmann would have made a great actress. And there was never any doubt that she was an accomplished soprano. She welded these two elements together.

It may be more difficult to imagine the aria’s place in the drama or story of the whole opera when listening to a recording of just that aria. One can prepare ahead by reading a little background to understand the situation. In our excerpts on this website we try to give some background and there is usually a lot of drama and beauty in the isolated aria and this can be appreciated and enjoyed. Many CDs offer translations or at least summaries of the arias and this can help too. We plan to provide for all these translations, as well as Lieder translations, as this website matures.

Another word that figures in opera is “recitative”. It is like the flip side of the coin from “aria.” Recitative is the “talking” set to music, but not as melodic an an aria. Often it doesn't have the full orchestra accompaniment common for an aria. The harpsichord or some other keyboard instrument is usually called upon to accompany the recitative.

Lehmann's recorded little recitative. There is an extended portion of a TV master class on Mozart's Marriage of Figaro where Lehmann talks extensively and specifically about recitative. That is available from VAI on VHS. Also, we can hear her speak in a section of recording of Eva by Lehar. She begins in a dreamlike voice So war mein Mutter (which translates, “that's how my Mother was”), and later the actual singing of the aria begins.

This brings us to another aspect of definitions. The difference between “opera” and “operetta” is sometimes a fine distinction. Some composers wrote both: Offenbach being the prime example with Tales of Hoffmann his sole opera among his many operettas. The most important difference for Viennese operettas is that they usually include waltz and other dance music. The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia mentions: “ a form of popular theater involving song, dialogue, and dance, satirical, sentimental, or farcical in manner.”

Lehmann recorded excerpts from operettas such as Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss Jr.; Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor by Otto Nicolai; Lehar’s Eva and Die lustige Witwe and Lorzing’s Undine. There is never the sense that Lehmann is “slumming” when she sings operetta; in fact, there's a lot of joy, especially in the Czardas from Die Fledermaus. Note her comical intonation at the beginning of the second verse on the word “Pascha”. Lehmann herself wrote that when she performed as Frau Fluth in Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor: “I think I always had as much fun as the audience.”