Meta Seinemeyer (September 5, 1895 – August 19, 1929) was a German opera singer with a spinto soprano voice.

Seinemeyer was born in Berlin, where she studied at the Stern Conservatory with Ernst Grenzebach. She made her debut at the Deutsche Opernhaus in 1918. She joined the Dresden Semperoper in 1924, and began appearing at the Vienna State Opera in 1927.

On the international scene, she sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1923, as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Eva in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, as Agathe in Der Freischütz in 1926, and at the Royal Opera House in London in 1929, as Eva, Elsa in Lohengrin and Sieglinde in Die Walküre.

Besides the great Wagner heroines, she also played an important role in the renaissance of Verdi’s operas in Germany, winning considerable acclaim as Leonora in La forza del destino, Elisabeth de Valois in Don Carlos, and the title role in Aida. She was also admired as Marguerite in Faust, Maddalena in Andrea Chénier, and the title role in Tosca.

She took part in the creation of Ferruccio Busoni’s Doktor Faust in Dresden in 1925.

Her voice is notable for her flawless management of register breaks, resulting in a seamless stream of tone from top to bottom. The voice has a very rich, enveloping sound, discernable even despite the limitations of the extant acoustic recordings.

One of the greatest German singers of her generation, her career was cut short when she died of leukemia in Dresden a few weeks short of her 34th birthday. Very shortly before her death, she married the conductor Frieder Weissmann (1893–1984). She is buried in the Stahnsdorfer Friedhof in Berlin.

as Elisabeth

as Venus

as Eva (by courtesy of Vicky Kondelik)

as Countess “Le Nozze di Figaro”

as Leonora (by courtesy of Vicky Kondelik)

as Leonora

as Tosca 1926

as Tosca (by courtesy of Vicky Kondelik)