Lotte Schöne was born to a Jewish family on December 15, 1891, in Vienna. Her parents—the businessman Otto Siegfried Bodenstein and his wife Josefine, born Hilfreich—gave her the name Charlotte Bodenstein at birth. She started her vocal training in her hometown in 1908, first with Johann and Luise Ress and after 1912 with Maria Brossement. In 1912, even before completing her training, she made her debut at the Vienna Volksoper as a bridesmaid in Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz, quickly becoming an integral part of the ensemble. In 1917, she went to the Vienna Hofoper, where she debuted as Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Over the following nine years, she performed primarily in roles for coloratura soprano and later on in lyric roles. In 1926, she went to the Städtische Oper in Berlin, where she worked under Bruno Walter. Over the following years she regularly performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in addition to performing as a guest at the operas in Dresden, Munich, and Vienna, the Covent Garden Opera in London, the Opéra-Comique in Paris, the Salzburg Festival, and Maggio Musicale in Florence.
The Nazis’ rise to power in 1933 spelled the end of Lotte Schöne’s career in Germany. Her name was on the list of Jews compiled by the Nazi factory cell at the State Opera, and her contract was allowed to expire at the end of the season. The singer subsequently fled to Paris, where she was able to resume her career at the Grande Opéra and the Opéra Comique. She also performed regularly as a concert singer, had guest engagements in Amsterdam, and toured through France, the Benelux countries, and Switzerland. She retired from the stage in 1938.
Germany’s invasion of France in May of 1940 and the subsequent occupation of the country put Lotte Schöne’s life in danger, and so she fled to a village in the French Alps, where she remained in hiding until the country’s liberation.
The artist came out of retirement after the war, giving performances as a concert singer and, in 1948, returning to the Städtische Oper in Berlin, in the role of Susanna in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. She retired from the stage for good in 1953 and worked as a voice teacher in the years that followed.
Lotte Schöne died on December 22, 1977, in Bobigny, outside of Paris.
1891 Vienna
1977 Bobigny