Marta Adam

Adam was born in Leipzig in a musical family. The composer Johann Georg Adam [de] was among her ancestors. Her father owned a factory, and her mother was a piano teacher. She received her vocal training at the Leipzig Conservatory with Marie Hedmondt.^[1]

She formed a vocal quartet in Leipzig in 1919, the Rosenthal-Quartet, with soprano Ilse Helling-Rosenthal, tenor Hans Lißmann and her later husband, bass Wolfgang Rosenthal.^[1] The vocal ensemble performed in Europe with great success.^[2] In 1918, they performed the Liebesliederwalzer by Johannes Brahms, and a reviewer noted the beauty and blending of their voices.^[3] On 11 March 1920, they were the soloists in a concert at the Gewandhaus, with Arthur Nikisch conducting Bruckner's Te Deum; the organist was Karl Straube.^[4] The quartet was dissolved by the Nazi regime.^[5]: 27

She married Wolfgang Rosenthal in 1943.^[5]: 119 It is not known when and where she died, but Kerstin Ackermann cites a letter Martha Rosenthal (Adam) wrote on 7 December 1971.^[5]: 120

• "Marta Adam (Contralto)". Bach Cantatas website
• Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (1919) which mentions several of Adam's performances