E. Schwarzkopf, famed soprano
Famed soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, a 20th-century legend who won global acclaim for her renditions of Mozart and Strauss, died Thursday at her home in western Austria, state television reported. She was 90. No cause of death was given.
Schwarzkopf, ranked alongside Maria Callas as a giant of the opera and concert stage, captivated audiences and critics alike during a career that spanned four decades.
Her leading roles ranged from Elvira in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” to the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier.” After her retirement she admitted having applied to join the Nazi Party in 1939, but she said it was “akin to joining a union” so that she could further her singing career. She was an aunt of U.S. Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who led American forces in the first Gulf War against Iraqi forces occupying Kuwait in 1991.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.
Arthur Lee, singer, songwriter
Arthur Lee, singer and songwriter for the 1960s psychedelic band Love, died Thursday after a battle with leukemia, according to Methodist University Hospital. He was 61.
Lee formed Love in Los Angeles, and the group was signed to the Elektra label to release their self-titled debut album in 1966.
The band’s most well-known album, “Forever Changes,” released in 1968, is considered a classic of the ‘60s rock era.
He was diagnosed with leukemia in February and received a rare umbilical cord blood transplant in May.
Before his diagnosis, Lee was performing original Love songs in Europe and the United States, backed by the local L.A. group, Baby Lemonade.
A benefit concert for him was held in New York in June headlined by former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant to raise money for his treatment.
Missoula
Patricia Goedicke, poet, teacher
Patricia Goedicke, a poet who wrote in bold, precise terms about romantic love as well as the stresses that illness and the specter of death impose on a marriage, has died. She was 75.
Goedicke died July 14 of pneumonia, a complication of cancer, at St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center in Missoula, according to Connie Poten, a friend.
Goedicke taught poetry at the University of Montana in Missoula for 25 years and was remembered as a beloved faculty member. She continued to teach a poetry workshop after she retired.
She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, a Pushcart Prize and the H.G. Merriam Award for her contributions to literature in Montana.