Anja Silja Regina Langwagen.
Born Berlin, 17 April 1940.
German soprano.
Anja Silja had a long international career as a brilliant actor with a powerfully dramatic vocal delivery, able to encompass an astonishing variety of styles.
She made her debut at Braunschweig in 1956 aged sixteen (Rosina). She quickly added other parts including Micaëla and Zerbinetta. In 1959 she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera (Queen of Night). Other early roles included Leonora Il trovatore, Santuzza, Konstanze and Fiordiligi.
She worked at Bayreuth from 1960 to '67. Her debut was as Senta, and she added Elsa, Elisabeth, Eva, Venus, Freia and Woodbird.
She sang frequently under the direction of Wieland Wagner until his death in 1966. These roles included Salome, Isolde, Brünnhilde (Die Walküre and Siegfried), Elektra, Leonore Fidelio, Desdemona Otello, Lulu and Marie Wozzeck.
Other parts around this time included Sieglinde, Ariadne, Jenny Mahagonny, Lady Macbeth, Violetta, Turandot, Cassandra (The Trojans), Renata Fiery Angel.
In Germany she appeared at several companies, including Stuttgart, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Other appearances included France (Paris, Toulouse); Italy (Turin, Naples); Switzerland (Zürich, Geneva); Spain (Barcelona); USA (San Francisco, Chicago). She made her debut at New York Met 1972 (Fidelio, Salome).
Her appearances at Covent Garden included Fidelio (1962, conducted and directed by Otto Klemperer) and Cassandre Les Troyens 1969. Late in her career she appeared at Glyndebourne (Emilia Marty).
She visited the Edinburgh Festival four times, the first three as a member of the companies from Stuttgart, Hamburg, and Frankfurt.
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