Marga Schiml

Marga Schiml (born 29 November 1945) is a German opera singer who sings mezzo-soprano and alto. She has appeared at major European opera houses and festivals, such as the Vienna State Opera, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera and La Scala, at the Salzburg Festival and the Bayreuth Festival. She is also an academic voice teacher.
Career.
Born in Weiden, Upper Palatinate, Schiml studied at the Musikhochschule München with . She received a scholarship from Deutsche Grammophon.
At the Salzburg Festival, she appeared in 1970 as "Erste Dame" in Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte", in 1972 as Cherubino in his "Le nozze di Figaro", conducted by Herbert von Karajan, and in 1984 and 1985 in scenic performances of Bach's "St Matthew Passion".
At the Bayreuth Festival, she performed several parts in the centenary production "Jahrhundertring" of Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen", directed by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez. She performed first in 1978 the part of the Rhinemaiden Floßhilde in "Das Rheingold" and "Götterdämmerung", and from 1979 the valkyrie Siegrune in "Die Walküre". She appears in the three parts on the DVD of the production. From 1979, she appeared as a flower maiden in "Parsifal", from 1981 as Magdalene in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", and from 1998 as Mary in "Der fliegende Holländer".
Schiml appeared at "La Scala" as Dorabella in Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte", conducted by Karl Böhm. She performed the part of Fricka in Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" at the Teatro Regio in Turin in 1986, and Annina in "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1989.
In concert, she sang, for example, in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Karajan, and his Missa Solemnis, conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch. She performed Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" and Mass in B minor, conducted by Karl Richter. She sang Mahler's Eighth Symphony with both Seiji Ozawa and Gustav Kuhn, and Mendelssohn's "Elias" with Otmar Suitner. She was a soloist in the ballet version of Bach's "St Matthew Passion" by John Neumeier in 1981, along with Peter Schreier as the Evangelist, Bernd Weikl as the "vox Christi", Mitsuko Shirai and Franz Grundheber, conducted by Günter Jena. In a concert with explanations ("Gesprächskonzert") in Frankfurt's Alte Oper on 24 January 1988, she performed Bach's cantata "Wachet! Betet! Betet! Wachet!" BWV 70, and Johann Christian Bach's "Dies irae" with Helmuth Rilling and the Gächinger Kantorei.
Schiml was a professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe from 1987 onwards. She retired in 2011, but still trains young singers. Among her students was Maria Radner. In 1999 she was awarded the Order of Merit of Germany.
Selected recordings.
Schiml recorded masses by Mozart, masses by Carl Maria von Weber, and masses by Bruckner with Eugen Jochum. In opera, she performed in Puccini's "Suor Angelica" with Lucia Popp in the title role), conducted by Giuseppe Patané, for example. She also appeared in radio and TV productions.