Just before Easter, German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig celebrated her 80th birthday. The occasion was celebrated by several radio programmes and interviews primarily in Germany and Austria, where she among heaps of praise was called "the artist of the house with the biggest career ever" by the General Manager of the Vienna State Opera.
Several compilation discs were also released to mark the occasion:
From EMI: "The art of Christa Ludwig", that doesn´t at a quick glance seem to contain much (if any) previously unreleased material.
And from Deutsche Gramophone: "Christa Ludwig - my conductors" (referring to Bernstein, Karajan and Böhm) - which also seem to rely on previously released material.
Unfortunately, many today remember her best as Fricka in the Metropolitan Ring (recorded on DVD around 1990), where she (despite an honorable performance) was a shadow of her former self.
In her prime (50´-60´s) there were very few roles in her repertoire in which she didn´t deliver performances against which others still are measured: Octavian (recorded with Karajan), Fidelio (recorded with Klemperer), Ortrud (recorded with Kempe), Fricka (recorded with Solti), Judith (recorded with Kertesz). Just to mention a few.
A personal favorite (apart from her Ortrud and Fricka) is her recording of the Wesendonck-lieder and the Brahms Alto Rhapsody with Klemperer. And her lieder recordings, particularly the Schubert and Mahler, including Das Lied Von Der Erde. Unsurpassed.
I think few will disagree that she was the most distinguished mezzo-soprano in the German repertoire of the entire 20th century.
In 1999 she released an autobiography "In my own voice", an entertaining read, which however seems to have become something of a rarity, since it sells for 73 British pounds at amazon.co.uk (!), at which price I may hesitate to recommend it.
Below as Leonore (Fidelio) with "Abscheulicher...komm hoffnung" from app. start 1960´s:
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