Pauline de Ahna
Birthplace: Ingolstadt, Kingdom of Bavaria
Pauline de Ahna was a German soprano who created Freihild in Richard Strauss's first opera, Guntram, at Weimar in 1894, and married the composer that year. She had studied in Munich before taking lessons with Strauss at Feldafing in 1887, made her stage debut at Weimar in 1890 as Pamina, and sang Elisabeth and a Flowermaiden at Bayreuth in 1891. Her repertory also took in Agathe, Leonore and Donna Anna before she retired from the stage in 1897. Strauss went on to portray her as Christine in Intermezzo, and wrote the soprano roles from Salome to Capriccio with her voice in mind.
Creations
- Freihild — Guntram (Weimar, 1894)
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Pauline de Ahna. (Accessed: August 2026).
- Forbes, E. (1992) 'De Ahna(-Strauss), Pauline', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 1, pp. 1093-1094.