Born in Barnaul, Rita Streich (1920–1987) was nicknamed “the Viennese Nightingale”, having won the hearts of audiences in Vienna, Berlin, Rome, London, New York City, Milan, Australia, and Japan. While the fact that she sang in two languages made some critics skeptical, it also meant that she could perform works by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and other Russian composers in the original.
The future singer’s father, the Austrian Bruno Streich, fought in World War I and ended up in Siberia as a prisoner of war. There, he married Anfiya Alekseyeva, a young Russian woman.
The love of Rita Streich’s parents and the story of her birth became known thanks to the famous politician Vladimir Ryzhkov. In 2001, he invited Franklin Berger, a popular photographer from Düsseldorf and the son of Rita Streich, to visit Barnaul.
In “The Secrets of Rita Streich”, Vladimir Ryzhkov quoted Richard Osborne’s description of the singer, “the combination of an Austrian father and a Russian mother gave her… a perfect sense of German discipline and Russian improvisation.”
In 1921, Rita’s family went to Germany. When Rita was an elementary school student, her vocals drew the attention of the great opera singer Erna Berger who made the girl her student. Rita Streich also studied under Willi Domgraf-Fassbaender and Maria Ivogün.
She made her debut in opera in 1943 in the role of Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss’ opera “Ariadne auf Naxos”. Three years later, Rita Streich appeared on the stage of the Berlin Opera. Between 1953 and 1972, she sang at the Vienna Opera. She toured many countries, and her performances were broadcasted on the radio. Major record companies invited her to record with them. Her interpretations of folk songs, romantic songs, and operas were considered some of the best.
Rita Streich’s crowning roles were the Queen of the Night in “The Magic Flute”, Zerlina in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, and Ännchen in Weber’s “Der Freischütz”.
After retiring as a singer, Rita Streich started teaching. She became a professor in Essen, worked at the Music Academy in Vienna, and in 1983, became head of the Centre du Perfectionnement d’art lyrique (Center for the Development of Lyrical Art) in Nice.
The online catalog of the Library of Congress includes
53 recordings by Rita Streich. One of them (Deutsche Grammophon, 1963) features
the Russian folk song “Chubchik” and the lullaby “Sleep, Child” among folk
songs of other countries performed by the famous singer.
