Hanna Schwarz

Hanna Schwarz (born 15 August 1943), is a German mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer. She studied psychology and voice in Hamburg and continued at the Folkwang Hochschule and at the Musikhochschule Hannover. She made her debut in 1970, in the role of Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, at the Staatsoper Hannover. She made her Bayreuth Festival debut in 1975 in the role of Flosshilde in the Ring cycle, and the following year sang Fricka in the centenary Ring production of Patrice Chéreau, a role in which she made her US debut the following year, with the San Francisco Opera. Other operatic roles in the next decade included Cherubino (in The Marriage of Figaro), Countess Geschwitz (in Lulu), and Waltraute in the 1980 Covent Garden Ring cycle. She has made many appearances as a concert artist, and features in a large number of recordings.