You are bidding on one Handwritten, signed staff theAmericanopera singer Gladys Kuchta (1888-1975).

From the estate of a Berlin autograph collector who personally received autographs from singers and actors from the 1930s to the 1970s or had them mailed to him by the artists (some of the envelopes are still there).

On fine A4 handmade paper (Römerturm Bütten).

The staff with the quote "Mild and soft as he smiles" (from "Tristan and Isolde", 3. Act).

Below handwritten dedication: "With kind regards! Your Gladys Kuchla. Berlin, 17.12.62."

Enclosed in a protective sheet; with handwritten attribution "Gladys Kuchta Opernsängerin."

Condition: Album leaf folded lengthwise and crosswise, paper slightly browned. BPlease note also the pictures!

Internal note: Opera 21-04

About Gladys Kuchta (source: wikipedia):

Gladys Kuchta (* 16. June 1915 in Chikopee, Massachusetts; † 7 October 1998 in Hamburg) was an American opera singer (soprano).

Life:Her family came from Poland. She completed her vocal training at the Mannes School and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York. One of her singing teachers was Zinaida Lisitchkina. In the early 1950s she continued her vocal training in Italy, where she made her debut in Florence in 1952 as Donna Elvira in the opera Don Giovanni. A year later she accepted an engagement at the Flensburg City Theater. From 1954 to 1958 she belonged to the ensemble of the Staatstheater Kassel. She was then a permanent member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. There the artist gave a day after her 60. Birthday, her farewell performance, as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde.

Gladys Kuchta sang on the world's major opera stages in Vienna, London, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Florence, Stuttgart, Munich, Bayreuth, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Rome, New York, Stockholm, Paris, etc. She worked with the great conductors of the time, above Allen Karl Böhm, Herbert von Karajan, Lorin Maazel and Leopold Ludwig. In 1968, the soprano took part in the first full-length studio opera production in color for television. She embodied Elektra in the opera of the same name by Richard Strauss. Another highlight of her international career was the guest performance of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Tokyo in 1963. There she sang the first Isolde in Asia.

In addition to her stage presence, the artist was engaged worldwide as a recital and concert singer. She also worked as a singing teacher at the Folkwang School in Essen. Her students include Albert Dohmen, Hans-Peter König, Andreas Förster, Vuokko Kekäläinen and others

Repertoire (selection)

Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)

Electra, Chrysothemis (Electra)

Amelia (A Masquerade Ball)

Brünnhilde (Siegfried)

Turandot (Turandot)

Leonore (Fidelio)[1]

Aida (Aida)

Sieglinde, Brünnhilde (The Valkyrie)

Brünnhilde (Twilight of the Gods)

Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)

Abigaille (Nabucco)

Elsa Lohengrin

Dyer (The Woman Without a Shadow)

Giulietta (Tales of Hoffmann)[2]

Senta (The Flying Dutchman)

Ursula (Mathis the Painter)

Elettra (Idomeneo)

Marie (Wozzeck)

discography

Fidelio (with Julius Patzak) Label: Concert Hall (1958)/ Nonesuch (1965) (STEREO) / Gala (Mono)

Elektra (with Ingrid Bjoner, regina Resnik, Hans Sotin) Label: Ponto 1968/2003

Turandot (with Monserrat Caballé) Label: Premiere Opera 1965

State Theater (UA M.Kagel) Label: DGG 1971

Wedding dreams, label: DGG/Favorit 1994

The Tales of Hoffmann, Label: DGG/Resonance 1997