Anni Frind

Who was Anni Frind?

Anni Frind was one of the most highly recorded lyric sopranos in Germany during the 1920s and 30s.

Anni Frind was born in Nixdorf, a small village in Bohemia. She made her debut in 1922 at the Volksoper Berlin and went on to sing leading soprano roles in both opera and operetta at the Munich State Opera, the Dresden State Opera, the German Opera House in Berlin and other major European cities. After the successful premiere of Benatzky's operetta Casanova in 1928, her energies were devoted mainly to operetta; and the ever-popular HMV recording of "The Nuns' Chorus" was produced. She appeared as Adele in Max Reinhardt's production of Die Fledermaus 200 times.

To avoid collaborating with the Nazis, Anni Frind curtailed her activities in Germany upon the rise of Hitler, and retired from professional singing at the outbreak of World War II, later marrying. During the war she sang for Allied soldiers at the front and worked as a volunteer nurse. Anni Frind-Sperling moved to New Orleans in 1951, and became a singing teacher at Newcomb College Tulane University. She died 1987 in New Orleans aged 87.