Ingeborg Wenglor ascends as Daphne becomes a laurel tree

THE SONGBIRD: German soprano Ingeborg Wenglor (1926 - 2014) was born in Dresden. She studied at the conservatory there after the war, making her debut in Dessau, followed by Leipzig and Berlin in 1954. She sang and recorded a mix of repertoire with roles including Sophie, Butterfly, Blonde, Susanna, Zerlina, and Marzelline and was a frequent concert soloist. THE MUSIC: Richard Strauss called his opera "Daphne" a "bucolic tragedy in one act." It premiered in Dresden in 1938. The plot centers around the Greek myth of Daphne, a young nymph who rejects the affections of the god Apollo and is turned into a laurel tree. The final scene is Daphne's very long monologue of regret and enlightenment, which culminates in her transformation into the tree to Strauss's soaring and silvery music. The opera is not performed or recorded regularly. The title role has no coloratura and is often taken by a "Jugendlich dramatischer Sopran" in the German fach system. However, its high tessitura and want of a youthful sound has also made it congenial for full lyric-coloratura sopranos in the middle or later periods of their careers as their voices have matured substantially. Singers in this vein who have performed or recorded the complete role of Daphne include Hilde Güden, Teresa Stich-Randall, Lucia Popp, Alexandra von der Weth, June Anderson, and Elizabeth Futral. And other coloratura sopranos have performed this final scene on record or in concert, including Beverly Sills and Grit van Juten.