Margarete Arndt-Ober

Margarete Arndt-Ober was a german Contralto. (* 15. April 1885 in Berlin, Germany as Margarethe Ober; ✝ 17. März 1971 in Bad Sachsa, Germany) She studied in Berlin with Benno Stolzenberg and married eventually her second teacher Arthur Arndt. Making her debut at the Frankfurt opera house as Azucena in 1906, she became a regular member of the Berlin State Opera from 1907 until her retirement in 1944. She sang Amneris with Caruso in 1908 and appeared as Kostelnicka in the Berlin premiere of Janacek’s Jenufa. In 1913 she made a highly praised debut at the Metropolitan as Ortrud and was an admired Octavian in the first American performance of Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. She took on most of the roles from Ernestine Schumann-Heink. Her Waltraute was praised as “one of the grand figures of the drama.” In 1914 she appeared in Toscanini’s revival of Weber’s Euryanthe, but on America’s entry into the war she was dismissed from the company and interned because of German-patriotic behaviour during a performance. She was forced to return to Germany where she resumed her career at the Berlin Opera and appeared regularly at the Zoppot Festival. Arndt-Ober retired in 1944.