Diez was born in Munich and received her early training from her father who was a musician in the city. In 1836 she joined the chorus of the Munich Hofoper where the conductor
Franz Lachner noticed the beauty of her voice and gave her further training. She made her debut as a soloist on 1 December 1836 as Angelina in Cherubini's
The Water Carrier and in February of the following year appeared as Benjamin in Étienne Méhul's
Joseph. Shortly thereafter she was engaged as permanent member of the company. In addition to her performances in Munich, Diez also appeared as a guest singer in several other German cites, including
Stuttgart,
Cologne,
Dresden, and
Hamburg. In 1866, she was given the title
Kammersängerin by
Prince Luitpold and a jubilee celebration was staged by the Hofoper to mark the 30th anniversary of her debut. In 1841, she had married
Ernst Friedrich Diez, who was 15 years her senior and sang as a tenor with the
Munich Hofoper from 1837 to 1849. Sophie Diez died in Munich in 1887 at the age of 66 and was buried in the
Alter Südfriedhof cemetery. Her husband died five years later.
Richard Strauss dedicated several of his early songs to her, including his 1879
Für Musik, a setting of
Emanuel Geibel's poem "Nun die Schatten dunkeln" ("Now the Shadows Darken"). ==Roles created==