Elly Ameling

Elisabeth Sara Ameling, known as Elly Ameling, born February 8, 1933 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is a Dutch soprano. She studied with Bodi Rapp and Pierre Bernac. Her career started when she won the first prize during the Vocal Concours in 's-Hertogenbosch in Holland (1956) and the Concours International de Musique in Geneva (1958). She made her career mainly as a concert and lieder singer with some excursions into opera and became world-renowned for her recitals of French and German songs and for her superlative interpretive gifts. She is equally at home in chamber music, orchestral music, operas, and oratorios. She made her U.S. recital debut at New York's Lincoln Center in 1968 and her opera debut in 1974 as Ilia in Mozart's Idomeneo in Washington, D.C. Contemporary works, particularly by her countrymen Bertus van Lier and Robert Heppener, are also part of her large repertoire. Ameling has recorded more than 150 albums and has won many coveted recording prizes, including The Edison Award, the Grand Prix du Disque and the Preis der Deutsche Schallplattenkritik . For her services to music, the Dutch government made her a Ridder (Knight) in the Orde van Oranje Nassau .