Silja, Anja (1935– )

German soprano. She sang Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia at Brunswick aged 19. She formed a close personal and artistic relationship with Wieland Wagner, and sang many times at Bayreuth and Stuttgart until his death in 1966.

In London she performed Leonore, Marie, and Cassandre from 1963. She made her US debut at Chicago in 1968, as Senta; she first sang in New York in 1972 at the Metropolitan Opera House, as Leonore. Other roles included Lulu, Salome, Isolde, and The Woman in Erwartung. She was often heard in concert with her husband, Christoph von Dohnányi. She was highly regarded for her acting in opera, for example as Elena Makropoulos at Glyndebourne, in 1995.