Res Fischer (8 November 1896 – 4 October 1974) was one of the few true German contraltos of the 1930s and 1940s, and was one of the most powerful singing-actresses of her day, performing internationally.
Her repertory included: Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Verdi roles such as Azucena in Il trovatore, Amneris in Aida, Eboli in Don Carlo, and Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff, Wagner roles including Ortrud in ohengrin, Fricka in Die Walküre, and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde, Strauss roles such as the Nurse in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Herodias in Salome, and Klytemnestra in Elektra, the Old Countess in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, the Kostelnicka in Janacek's Jenůfa, and Iocasta in Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex.
[2] Fischer appeared at the Bayreuth Festival from 1959 to 1961 as Mary in Der fliegende Holländer.
[1] She performed there in a production conducted by Wolfgang Sawallisch, alongside George London as the Holländer and Leonie Rysanek as Senta.
She sang the role of Marcellina in Mozart's Die Hochzeit des Figaro in a 1942 recording conducted by Clemens Krauss, and the female title role of Samson et Dalila in 1948, alongside Lorenz Fehenberger, Fred Destal and Max Proebstl, with Hans Altmann conducting the Bavarian Radio Chorus and Orchestra.