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The Viennese Nightingale: Although Miss Elfie Mayerhofer was always thoroughly Viennese in spirit and culture, she was born in Marburg, Yugoslavia, on March 15, 1917, and received her early education there. She began her musical studies in Slovenia before continuing in Zürich under Prof. Fred Husler and later in Vienna. In 1935, at the Berlin High School of Music, she studied with Prof. Lula Mysz-Gmeiner alongside Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Peter Anders, who eventually married Prof. Mysz-Gmeiner’s daughter. Mayerhofer’s first professional engagement was with the youth theater in Munich and Berlin, followed by work at the State Opera of Munich. Her clear coloratura soprano voice was so distinctive that it earned her the nickname "The Viennese Nightingale." She made her film debut in 1938 in the German western "Woman of Golden Hill" (Femmes pour Golden Hill). The following year, she appeared alongside Elfriede Datzig in the Austrian film "Hotel Sacher," where she performed a Yugoslavian gypsy folk song. After World War II, Mayerhofer entertained Allied troops in Austria and Germany. She was honored at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland for her role in "Viennese Melodies." She then resumed concerts and opera performances. In 1949, Herbert von Karajan invited her to the Salzburg Music Festival in Austria, where she portrayed Cherubino in Mozart’s "The Marriage of Figaro" (in Italian), performing alongside Maria Cebotari. That same year, she debuted in Paris in the operetta "La Reine des Valses," opposite Belgian tenor Henri Legay. In France, she recorded songs including "Stille Nacht" and "Mariä Wiegerlied" for Decca Records. Mayerhofer also appeared in non-singing stage roles. She released two 10" LPs for London Records in 1949 and 1951, which were distributed in France, the USA, and Great Britain, though none were released in her home country. Later, in the late 1950s, she recorded a third 10" LP for Columbia Records in West Germany titled "The Flower of Hawaii" (Die Blume von Hawaii). Her final Austrian film was "Vanished Melodies" (Verlorene Melodien), starring Peter Alexander and Evelyn Künneke. In 1974, she toured internationally, performing operas, operettas, and concerts in the USA, Canada, and Mexico, and made several television appearances in Austria and Germany around that time. Throughout her film career, she appeared in nineteen European films, most set in Vienna. Mayerhofer continued to perform live in Austria almost until her passing on December 28, 1992, in Vienna.
