Marie Wittich

[1] She was a Kammersängerin of the Dresden Royal Opera where she sang for 25 years and was known for the power, vibrancy and dramatic quality of her voice.

"[3] Marie Wittich was born in Giessen and studied singing in Würzburg with Frau Ober-Ubrich, a sister of the prominent soprano Asminde Ubrich.

[4] She made her stage debut in 1882 in Magdeburg as Azucena in Il trovatore and went on to sing in Basle, Düsseldorf, Dresden, and Schwerin, where in 1886 she sang the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide for the inauguration of the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater.

[5] During the rehearsals for the premiere of Salome, several members of the cast became dismayed by the demanding and complex nature of their parts, none more so than Wittich, who was reluctant to sing a role which Strauss described as "a sixteen-year old princess with the voice of Isolde".

A distinguished Wagnerian singer, Wittich appeared regularly in Bayreuth from 1901 to 1909 where she sang Sieglinde, Kundry, and Isolde.