She made her operatic debut on 3 February 1947 at the
Vienna State Opera in the title role of Verdi's
Aida to great acclaim; she remained with this theatre until 1971. The following year she first appeared at the
Salzburg Festival, where she appeared as Donna Anna in Mozart's
Don Giovanni, as Vittelia in his
La clemenza di Tito, and in the title role of
Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. Her repertory also included Elsa in Wagner's
Lohengrin, Eva in his
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and the title roles of Gluck's
Iphigénie en Tauride and Puccini's
Tosca. Zadek made her debut at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni on 26 November 1952. Beside Donna Anna (4 performances), at the Met she sang Eva in
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2 performances), Elsa in
Lohengrin (1 performance), and the title role of
Aida (1 performance on 14 January 1953, her last at the Met). She also appeared at the
San Francisco Opera and the
Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Beginning in 1967, she taught at the
Vienna Music Academy, and gave masterclasses. Her last performance at the
Vienna State Opera was as Gerhilde in
Die Walküre on 3 January 1971, and the same year she retired from the stage. She left a notable recording of Donna Anna in a complete
Don Giovanni, with conductor
Rudolf Moralt, opposite
George London,
Léopold Simoneau and
Sena Jurinac. She
turned 100 on 15 December 2017. Zadek died in
Karlsruhe on 21 February 2019 at the age of 101. For the promotion of young musicians, the Hildegard Zadek Foundation has held the biennial International Hilde Zadek Voice Competition since 2003. Through her father, Zadek was a cousin of noted art collector
Heinz Berggruen. == Awards ==