Born in the
Thuringian town of
Lauscha, Ursula Buckel studied singing in the School of Church Music in Braunschweig in 1947; later she undertook further study with Hans Höfflin in Freiburg and with
Ria Ginster in Zürich and in Hilversum. She collaborated regularly with the Zurich Bach Choir,
Karl Richter and his
Münchener Bach-Chor,
Diethard Hellmann and his Mainzer Bach-Chor, and
Karl Ristenpart. With Richter she was a frequent soloist for recordings of
Bach cantatas, including in 1961
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147, a cantata that Bach had written in 1723 for the feast of the
Visitation always celebrated on 2 July. Performances of Bach's
Mass in B minor and
St John Passion with Richter and soloists
Hertha Töpper,
Ernst Haefliger and
Peter van der Bilt in the Grand Hall of the
Moscow Conservatory in 1968 were recorded live. She recorded Bach's
St Matthew Passion with Richter, a live performance in 1969 at Bunka-Kaykan, Tokyo and also conducted by
Eric Ericson, with
John van Kesteren as the
Evangelist. In 1958 she sang in Basel in the premiere of
Gilgamesch-Epos by
Bohuslav Martinů. In 1963 she also recorded the title role of Monteverdi's opera ''
L'incoronazione di Poppea'' with conductor Rudolf Ewerhart, although she did not perform the opera on stage. Her only appearance on the opera stage was in 1970 as Donna Anna in Mozart's
Don Giovanni. With the choir Philharmonischer Chor
Schwäbisch Gmünd she performed Haydn's
Die Schöpfung (The Creation) in 1971 with
Kurt Huber and
Roland Hermann. Since 1971 she was a teacher of voice at the
Conservatoire de Musique de Genève. She also conducted master classes. She died in
Geneva in 2005. == References ==