What is Elisabeth Schwarzkopf?
[[File:Elisabeth Schwarzkopf FDC 76 1858.3.jpg|thumb|Elisabeth Schwarzkopf]] Dame '''Elisabeth Schwarzkopf''' [[DBE]] (9 December 1915 in [[Jarotschin]] in [[Prussia]] - 3 August 2006 in [[Schruns]], [[Austria]]) was a [[Germany|German]]-[[Britain|British]] [[soprano]]. She was one of the most famous opera singers of the 20th century as well as a famous [[recital]]ist. She was particularly known for singing the music of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]], [[Richard Strauss|Strauss]], and [[Hugo Wolf|Wolf]]. ==Early life== '''Elisabeth Schwarzkopf''' was born in Jarotschin in the province of Posen in [[Prussia]]. Schwarzkopf showed an interest in music from an early age. She first sang in an opera in 1928, when she took the part of Eurydice in a school production of [[Christoph Willibald Gluck|Gluck's]] ''[[Orfeo ed Euridice]]'' in [[Magdeburg]], Germany. In 1934, Schwarzkopf started to study in [[Berlin University of the Arts|Berlin Hochschule für Musik]], then she changed teachers and started working with the [[soprano|coloratura]] [[soprano]] Maria Ivogün as well as with Ivogün's husband, the pianist Michael Raucheisen. == Early career == Schwarzkopf gave her first professional performance at the [[Deutsche Oper Berlin]] on 15 April 1938, as the Second Flower Maiden (First Group) in Act II of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Parsifal]]''. She sang in Berlin for four years, during which time she joined the [[Nazi Party]]. Because of this she was later not allowed to appear in the United States.<ref>''[[The Guardian]]'' (Michael H Kater) [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1857072,00.html Triumph of the wilful] 24 August 2006</ref> In 1942, she was invited to sing with the [[Vienna State Opera]], where her roles included Konstanze in Mozart's ''[[Die Entführung aus dem Serail]]'', Musetta and later Mimì in [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s ''[[La bohème]]'' and Violetta in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s'' [[La traviata]]''. == Career after the war == In 1945, Schwarzkopf was given [[