[1] In 1986 she reported on this phase of her life to the daily Der Morgen: "I was the Third Lady, the 7th woman and the waitress carrying a tray across the stage and singing a sentence.

"[2] Voice teacher Helga Forner accepted her as a pupil[1] in 1972, and she won the highest award in the GDR National Opera Competition the same year.

During three years as mezzo-soprano, she portrayed Bizet's Carmen, Dorabella in Mozart's Così fan tutte and Princess Eboli in Verdi's Don Carlos).

She also appeared at the house as Marcellina in Rossini's Der Barbier von Sevilla and in 1979 as Freia in Wagner's Das Rheingold, staged by Ruth Berghaus and conducted by Otmar Suitner.

[3] The 1981/82 season marked the beginning of her collaboration with the director Harry Kupfer at the Komische Oper Berlin, which was highly regarded internationally.

[1] She remained there to 1988, singing roles such as Regan in Aribert Reimann's Lear, Musette in Puccini's La bohème and Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Kupfer and conductor Rolf Reuter helped her, with assigning her the title role in the world premiere of Siegfried Matthus' opera Judith at the Komische Oper on 28 September 1985,[1] to receive a special prize of the Ministry of Culture in the GDR.