Marianne Brandt (contralto)

She was born as Marie Bischof in Vienna and was educated at the music conservatory in that city, then studied with Pauline Viardot-García.

[1] She first attracted attention on stage in 1867 as Rachel in La Juive and soon afterward accepted an engagement at the Graz opera.

Brandt travelled to New York during the 1880s, where she sang for several seasons (1884–1888) the principal contralto rôles at the Metropolitan Opera House under Anton Seidl's baton.

Two other leading Germanic singers, the soprano Lilli Lehmann and the bass-baritone Emil Fischer, were performing at the Met at the same time as Brandt.

As an admirable interpreter of Wagnerian rôles, she contributed largely to the success of the Bayreuth music festivals in 1876 and 1882.