Elisabeth Schumann

Elisabeth Schumann (13 June 1888 – 23 April 1952) was a German lyric soprano who sang in opera, operetta, oratorio, and lieder.

Lotte Lehmann, in many ways her rival, paid her the tribute of saying that she represented perhaps the purest singing style of German lieder.

This is most evident in her rendering of Schubert's "Du bist die Ruh" which requires a steadiness and purity of tone beyond most singers.

During World War II she gave recitals but mainly taught singing, privately and at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

She was closely connected with Richard Strauss, Otto Klemperer, Lotte Lehmann, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, and other leading musicians of the first half of the 20th century.