Opera star Renate Holm has died at the age of 90 – Vorarlberger Nachrichten

Renate Holm, the famous soprano passed away on Thursday (April 21) at the age of 90 at her adopted home in Vienna. This was announced by Vienna Volksoper, in which Holm made a total of 461 appearances. Honorary member of the House has been a fixture in the opera business in Austria and abroad for decades. At the same time, the Berlin native also celebrated success as an occasional hit star and was also at home on the straight stage.

It was something like the European version of the United States dream of extreme poverty to riches completed by Renate Holm. Her path once led her from working as a dental receptionist through the intermediate station as a successful star to the International Opera Theatre. Born in Berlin, born on August 10, 1931 in the German capital, she studied singing in Berlin, and later with Maria Hettorf in Vienna, along with her training as a dental assistant. In a public audition for RIAS Berlin radio station, she performed so well with the song “Song of the Nightingale” that the song “Schwipslied” was specially composed for her. As a result, she made a name for herself as a pop singer and appeared in a total of 15 musical films from 1953 to 1957 (including “Miss von Amt”, “Wunschkonzert” or “Wo die Lerche sings”).

However, the artist did not make her way to the classic theme. In 1957, the sopranos first achieved major success as Helen in Oscar Strauss’ “Walzertraum” in the Vienna Volksoper. It was followed by numerous recordings, guest shows at home and abroad, and television and radio broadcasts. In 1960, she contracted Herbert von Karajan for her first appearance at the Vienna Opera as Gretchen in “Wildschütz”, and in 1964 she became a member of the band. In 1961 she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Papagena in The Magic Flute. Guest appearances have also taken her to as far afield as Buenos Aires, Moscow and London.

Holm’s repertoire ranged from operetta and Wienerlied to Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini to Richard Strauss. In Vienna, where she was appointed Kammersängerin in 1971, Musetta in Puccini’s “La Boheme” was one of her star roles, but also as Zerbinetta (“Ariadne auf Naxos”), Blondchen (“The Abduction of Seraglio”), Susanna and Countess still Almaviva ( “Nozze di Figaro”) or Zerlina (“Don Giovanni”) is familiar to Holme opera fans with a long history of birth. In addition, the operetta was the special love of the Volksoper member that spanned decades. In 1975, Renate Holm received her first gold record for recording operetta melodies.

In 1987, the singer first took the role of a lecturer at the theater am Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, and in 1989 she appeared in Lina Wertmüller’s “Love and Magic in Mamma’s Kitchen” at the Vienna Volkstheater. As a television author, the artist and animal rights activist, who has lived for many years in Vienna and a centuries-old watermill in Altenmarkt im Thale in Lower Austria, has written a television series for ORF in which animal-loving artists have their say. .

Renate Holm traced this exciting life in her 2017 autobiography “He Who Gives Wings to His Soul…” by Amalthea Verlag. But otherwise, the career of a successful singer was not appreciated. Holm has received awards including the Vienna State Opera’s Gold Ring of Honor (1986), the Vienna Gold Medal of Honor (1987), the Robert Stolz Ring of Honor, and the Austrian Cross of Honor for Sciences and Arts of the First Class. , the Gold Order of Merit for the State of Vienna and the German Federal Cross of Merit – and the professional title of “Professor”.