What is Irmgard Seefried?
[[File:Portret van de sopraan Irmgard Seefried in Amsterdam vo deelnemen aan Holland-fe, Bestanddeelnr 914-0476.jpg|thumb|Irmgard Seefried]] '''Irmgard Seefried''' (born Köngetried, [[Bavaria]], [[9 October]] [[1919]]; died [[Vienna]], [[24 November]] [[1988]]) was a famous German [[soprano]] who sang [[opera]] and [[lied]]er. Irmgard Seefried was born in Köngetried, near Mindelheim, [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]]. She studied at [[Augsburg]] University. Her first appearance in [[opera]] was in [[Aachen]] where she sang the role of the priestess in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Aida]]'' in 1940. She soon began to sing leading parts, and in [[1943]] she sang the part of Eva in [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]]'s ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' at the [[Vienna State Opera]] conducted by [[Karl Böhm]]. Since then, she belonged to the ensemble of the [[Vienna State Opera]] until she retired in 1976. She sang at the [[Salzburg Festival]] nearly every year and gave many [[recital]]s. She appeared at the [[Royal Opera House]] of Covent Garden in [[London]] from [[1947]] to [[1949]], and also [[La Scala]] in [[Milan]], [[Edinburgh Festival]], etc. She sang at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in [[New York City|New York]] during the [[1953]] -a[[1954]] season the role of Susanna in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' She is especially remembered for her singing of the music of Mozart and [[Richard Strauss]], but she also sang in other composers' operas; the title role in [[Giacomo Puccini|Puccini]]'s ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', Marie in [[Alban Berg]]'s ''[[Wozzeck]]'', Eva in ''[[Der Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'', Blanche in [[Francis Poulenc|Poulenc]]'s ''[[Dialogues of the Carmelites|Dialogues des Carmélites]]'', and the title role in [[Leoš Janáček|Janáček]]'s ''[[Káťa Kabanová]]''. She was a great ''lieder'' singer and several of her [[Salzburg Festival]] recitals were recorded. She left many recordings of oratorio and sacred music by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]], Mozart, [[Joseph Haydn|