Edith Mathis

Among the preeminent Mozart opera singers of the late 20th century, soprano Edith Mathis had a large repertory stretching from Bach to Mahler and Richard Strauss. Her career extended across the top opera houses of the world, and she also had flourishing careers as a lieder recitalist and a choral soloist. Her recording catalog, much of it in the LP era, was large, and many of her recordings found new life in digital reissues. An early Mathis digital recording came in 1983 in Mozart's Requiem, K. 626, with the Vienna Philharmonic under conductor Karl Böhm. The duet "Sull'aria... che soave zeffiretto," recorded by Mathis and soprano Gundula Janowitz, appeared in the 1994 film The Shawshank Redemption. Reissues of Mathis' recordings have continued to appear in the 21st century. She died in Salzburg on February 9, 2025.