Margarete Klose was a German contralto and mezzo-soprano, one of the major German lower voices of the twentieth century. She was especially admired in Wagner, Verdi and German repertory.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears in Mozart and Wagner, including Fricsay’s Die Zauberflöte and Furtwängler’s Rome Ring cycle.

Klose’s singing combined dark richness, authority and a strong sense of line, making her a formidable presence in both opera and concert works.

Her page is essential. Klose gives the German opera shelf a contralto depth with iron under the velvet.