Renate Holm – born Renate Franke in Berlin, Germany on August 10, 1931 – was an Austria-based actress and operatic soprano. After seeing a motion picture based on Puccini’s Madama Butterfly at the age of 12, she was inspired to become an opera singer. After her parents separated in 1943, she was evacuated from bombed-out Berlin and relocated to the village of Ragow, where she spent the rest of her childhood. After the war, her family moved again and by 1950, she had begun a career as a dentist’s assistant as well as pursuing her dreams to be a singer. She studied with coloratura soprano Maria Ivogün in Berlin and then Maria Hittorf in Vienna. After winning a talent show in 1953, she changed her last name to Holm and became a radio schlager singer. Her career picked up pace when she appeared in several films, recorded operettas, and performed frequently on the radio. Although offered the lead role in a German production of My Fair Lady, she decided that she wanted to pursue opera seriously and drove to Vienna, Austria. Renate Holm made her opera debut in a production of Oscar Straus’ Ein Walztraum and came to prominence when she began her decades-long association with the Vienna State Opera, She appeared in many productions including Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Beethoven's Fidelio, Puccini's La bohème and Richard Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. While she performed at the Vienna State Opera over 450 times, she also performed at many festivals and on many prestigious stages around the world. A resident of Austria for 60 years, she was honored with the title Kammersängerin (given to distinguished classical and opera singers) in 1971. She continued to perform into the 2000s and also served as a voice teacher. Renate Holm’s recorded legacy stretches back to her operettas performed in the early 1950s but her career as a recording artist began later that decade. Her catalog includes original albums and compilations including Uber die Heide / Lieder der Haimat (1956), Lieder der Nachtigall (1963), 100 Years of Lehár (1966), A Treasury of Viennese Operettas (1969), Vienna, Women and Song (1971), Weber: Der Freischütz (2016), and Singers of the Century: Renate Holm – Lieder der Nachtigall (2019). Renate Holm died on April 21, 2022, at the age of 90.
