Today, on the anniversary of her birth, we honor the great German mezzo-soprano Christa Ludwig (1928-2021)! Ludwig and Leonard Bernstein shared a close friendship, collaborating on iconic recordings and performances, including Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3, Das Lied von der Erde, Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (1968); and Bernstein’s Symphony No. 1, "Jeremiah." In 1973, she performed Brahms Lieder with Bernstein at the piano in Tel Aviv, a recital later broadcast on Great Pe