Ljuba Welitsch (Bulgarian: Люба Величкова) (born Borissovo, Bulgaria July 10, 1913 - died Vienna, Austria September 1, 1996) was a celebrated Bulgarian soprano. She studied at Sofia Conservatory and specialized in Vienna; she made her debut in Sofia in 1936 and subsequently appeared in Graz, Hamburg, Munich and the Vienna State Opera.
Her most famous role was Salome, and she sang it under Richard Strauss himself in 1944 for his 80th birthday. She made her London debut always as Salome in 1947 and also her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera, New York on 4 February 1949. Other roles included the title roles of Tosca and Aida, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Minnie in La fanciulla del West and Musetta in La Boheme.
Her voice was not classically beautiful, but it had an acidy quality that was very suited to the role of Strauss' nasty Princess, judging by this live recording from the Met (probably her Met debut) the voice rode easily over the large orchestra and had the extraordinary range the part demands. Like no other soprano Welitsch manages to combine the sensual and perverse side of Salome with the innocent yet horribly spoilt teenager. The morbid impatience and repugnant excitement with which she waits for head has never been matched and her special brand of understatement often puts a nasty twist on phrases that go unnoticed with other interpreters. With Welitsch Salome's necrophilia is all the more horrific because she sounds like a teenager who truly does not understand the difference between love and lust, confusing the taste of death for the taste of love.
She was not a singer who reveled in the beauty of her own sound, instead she pressed ahead building up excitement to frenzy and was known to become even too involved in the roles she played. Legend has it that during a performance of Tosca she added a personal touch by kicking the dead Scarpia (Lawrence Tibbett) with whom she did not get on. Her interpretation of Musetta, it is said, bordered on indecency. Nevertheless she was not a singer whose excesses interfered with the musical line. Her career as a soprano did not last long, though she actually continued singing until 1981 in smaller character roles, she also made a career in films (in the USA and Austria) and appeared on Austrian television.
This recording is taken from a live performance at the Met in 1949 conducted by Fritz Reiner.