Essential Lehmann in Print

While the Lehmann voice spins new enchantments from compact disks, the details of how she became "the greatest German soprano of the 20th Century" are to be found in two books published in 1988.

Lotte Lehmann: A Life in Opera and Song, by Beaumont Glass, tracks her amazing career from small town childhood to the singing teacher who told her she had absolutely no talent, to her debuts on opera stages of Hamburg and Vienna. The book follows her career in the US in opera and lieder, as well as in master classes at the Music Academy of the West. It contains an index and the first of Gary Hickling's discographies. 80 photos.

The book may be ordered from the publisher:

• Capra Press
  P.O. Box 2068
  Santa Barbara, CA 93120
  (805) 966-4590.

Lotte Lehmann: 1888-1976, A Centenary Biography, by Alan Jefferson, covers the musical career of Lehmann quite thoroughly and contains an 11 page tabular listing of all of Lehmann's opera performances, a discography by Floris Juynbol, 23 photos. We do not know of a US source for the book, which is published by Julia MacRae Books in London. We obtained a copy from:

• Blackwell's
  50 Broad Street
  Oxford OX1 3BQ
  England.

Dr. Richard Exner's Centennial Symposium lecture on "Strauss, Hoffmannsthal and Lehmann" has been published by the UCSB Library and is available in Soundings 1988 from:

• Librarian's Office
  University of California
  Santa Barbara, CA 93106.

Lotte Lehmann's More Than Singing: The Interpretation of Songs has been reprinted in paperback by Dover. This is an invaluable guide not only to the aspiring singer of lieder but to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of this art.

• Dover Publications Inc.
  31 East 2nd St.
  Mineola, NY 11501

and in bookstores.

Dr. Herman Schornstein wrote: "The July/August issue of Santa Barbara has a pleasing article, 'Lotte Lehmann: On the Wings of Emotion,' containing eight mainly uncommon photos plus examples of Lehmann's wit. This nicely compliments the issue's feature piece on the Music Academy of the West.

• Santa Barbara Magazine
  216 E Victotia St.
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101

(Ed. The article has factual errors, but is still worthwhile.)

In addition to the Santa Barbara magazine article on Lehmann, an extensive feature appears in the annual historical magazine of the Westemers Corral of Santa Barbara, La Reata. The l989 publication contains an article by Judy Sutcliffe on Lotte Lehmann's first home in Santa Barbara, a mountain lodge that burned in a spectacular canyon fire. Seventeen photos, most never before published.

• Santa Barbara Westerners Corral
  P.O. Box 1454
  Santa Barbara, CA 93102.

-JS