Maria von Ilosvay was a Hungarian contralto renowned for her performances of the role of Erda in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen

Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...

. She studied in Budapest and Vienna, and in 1937 won first prize in the International Singing Contest in Vienna. In 1940 she joined the Hamburg company. She appeared as guest artist in Vienna, Brussels, Amsterdam and Salzburg. She became a mainstay at the Bayreuth Festival

Bayreuth Festival

The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...

 following its re-opening in 1951 when she made her debut there. She recorded the role of Erda in live recordings from Bayreuth conducted by Clemens Krauss

Clemens Krauss

Clemens Heinrich Krauss was an Austrian conductor and opera impresario, particularly associated with the music of Richard Strauss.-Biography:...

 and Joseph Keilberth

Joseph Keilberth

Joseph Keilberth was a German conductor who specialized in opera.He started his career in the State Theatre of his native city, Karlsruhe. In 1940 he became director of the German Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Near the end of World War II he became principal conductor of the Dresden...

.