Ilse Gramatzki

Ilse Gramatzki (born 1939) is a German operatic mezzo-soprano and contralto who performed at major European opera houses. The member of both the Cologne Opera and the Frankfurt Opera is known for singing parts by Mozart, contemporary opera and parts by Wagner at the Bayreuth Festival including the Jahrhundertring.

Born in Kiel, Gramatzki studied voice in Hamburg, with the soprano Erna Schlüter , among others. In 1964 she was engaged at the Landestheater Detmold, from 1966 at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. She was a member of the Cologne Opera from 1968 to 1983, where she performed in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's Mozart cycle. From 1974 to 2001, she was also a member of the Frankfurt Opera. She appeared there as Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare, staged by Horst Zankl  in 1977. She performed in 1983 the part of Charlotte in Zimmermann's Die Soldaten in a production conducted by Michael Gielen which was also shown at the Théâtre de la Monnaie. In 1986 she participated in the premiere of Hans Zender's Stephen Climax at the Frankfurt Opera.

Gramatzki performed regularly at the Bayreuth Festival from 1972 to 1980, singing parts in the music dramas by Richard Wagner. In his Der Ring des Nibelungen, she appeared as two of the Rhinemaidens: as Floßhilde from 1972 to 1974, and as Wellgunde from 1976 to 1980 in the production Jahrhundertring staged by Patrice Chéreau and conducted by Pierre Boulez, also as the valkyrie Grimgerde in all almost all these seasons. She performed the part of Magdalene in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1976, and appeared in Parsifal as a Flowermaiden and as the First Esquire.