Christa Ludwig, a renowned interpreter of Wagner, Mozart and Strauss who starred on the world’s great stages for four decades, died at her home in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
She was 94. Her death was announced Sunday by the Vienna State Opera, which said she died Saturday. A mezzo-soprano who also succeeded in soprano roles, Ludwig made her Vienna State Opera debut as Cherubino in Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” on April 14, 1955, when the company was temporarily in the Redoutensaele.
She was heard in the rebuilt opera house for the first time that Dec. 26 as Octavian in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” She sang 769 performances of 42 roles in Vienna. “The words of the Marschallin often quoted by Christa Ludwig -- `With a light heart and light