Maria Olszewska
also Maria Olczewska, Marie Berchtenbreitner
Birthplace: Ludwigsschwaige, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Empire
Maria Olszewska was a German contralto who studied in Munich and made her operatic debut as a Page in Tannhäuser at Krefeld in 1915. She sang at Krefeld until 1920, then joined the Hamburg Stadttheater, where she took part in the joint premiere, with Cologne, of Korngold's Die tote Stadt that year. She sang in Vienna from 1921 to 1928 and at Munich from 1923 to 1925. At Covent Garden from 1924 to 1932 her Fricka, Ortrud, Brangäne and Herodias drew the highest critical acclaim; her Octavian and Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus were also highly regarded, though her Carmen and Amneris less so. She sang in Chicago from 1928 to 1932 and at the Metropolitan Opera from 1933 to 1935. She married the baritone Emil Schipper.
Written from
- Wikipedia (2026) Maria Olszewska. (Accessed: August 2026).
- Rosenthal, H. (1992) 'Olszewska [Olczewska], Maria [Berchtenbreitner, Marie]', in Sadie, S. (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. London: Macmillan Reference, vol. 3, p. 668.
- Kutsch, K.J. and Riemens, L. (1987) 'Olszewska, Maria', in Großes Sängerlexikon. Bern and Stuttgart: Francke, vol. 2, cols. 2168-2169.
- Wiener Staatsoper (n.d.) Maria Olszewska. Performance archive. (Accessed: 14 October 2026).
- Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch (1920). Berlin: Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger, p. 363. (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
- Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch (1918). Berlin: Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger. (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
- Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch (1921). Berlin: Genossenschaft Deutscher Bühnen-Angehöriger. (Accessed: 16 October 2026).