Emmy Destinn

Ema Destinová ( born February 26, 1878 in Prague, † January 28, 1930 in České Budějovice, also Ema Destinnová or Emmy Destinn, maiden name Emilie Věnceslava Pavlina Kittlová ) was a Czech opera singer. In addition to Geraldine Farrar it was considered one of the best dramatic sopranos of her time.

Life

Ema Destinová was daughter of the rich culture of Prague conveyor Emanuel Kittl. She was artistically gifted, painted, learned to play the violin with Professor Ferdinand Lachner and was eight years old already their first concert. She tried briefly as a literary figure and took Mrs. Destinová - Löwelová (also Loewe Destinn ) in Prague singing lessons. The name of their teacher, they then chose gratitude as her stage name. In addition, Ema Acting studied at the Dramatic School of the National Theatre in Prague. A commitment in Prague was prevented for political reasons. She made her stage debut in 1897 in the Dresden Court Opera as Santuzza in " Cavalleria Rusticana ". The success of their debut was so great that it was immediately committed for five years at the Berlin Court Opera.

The first major appearance was in 1898. Also at Berlin's Kroll Opera as Santuzza in " Cavalleria rusticana " was acclaimed by the audience. 1901 Destinn sang at the Bayreuth Festival Senta in "The Flying Dutchman" and was celebrated stormy. In 1904 she sang in the premiere of Leoncavallo's " Roland of Berlin", the same year in the German premiere of Smetana's " Dalibor ". In 1906 she created for the Berlin Salome by Richard Strauss. It was followed by appearances in other roles such as " Carmen ", " Valentina ", " AA ", " Elizabeth ", " Selika ". Destinn Prima Donna was the Berlin State Opera, where she worked for ten years in fifty roles. In 1905 she made her debut at Covent Garden Opera in the title role of Puccini's " Madama Butterfly". She sang more roles among others in 1909 in the world premiere of the opera " Tess " by Frederic A. Baron d' Erlanger where he performed until 1914 and again in 1919. After a very successful guest performances in Vienna, London, Prague and Paris, she was also appointed in 1908 to the New York Metropolitan Opera. In 1909 she designed here Marie in Smetana's opera " The Bartered Bride ", 1910 Lisa at the premiere of Tchaikovsky's "Pique Dame ", in 1908, the Martha in " lowland ", 1909, the title character in " La Wally " by Catalani. Here she sang on 10 December 1910 in the world premiere of Puccini's " La Fanciulla del West " as a partner on the side of the then famous tenor Enrico Caruso Minnie.

Only in Prague she found after she gave three performances in 1900 there is no appeal and no permanent job at the National Theatre. However, they later took on roles in other theaters of the city. After Destinn was generally occurred 86 times in the capital, it was built in 1908 and celebrated enthusiastically. Now they finally came on at the National Theatre, whose honorary member, she was appointed in the same year. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed to the Prussian chamber singer of the court in the German Reich.

In 1916 she returned to Bohemia and was placed under house arrest for an alleged spying on her castle in Straz nad Nežárkou. In the last year of the war of 1918, she returned to the stage and was celebrated everywhere. At the end of the concerts they then agreed the Czech national anthem " Kde domov můj, kde vlast per mà .... " and so designed their performances as a national manifesto.

After the war, she withdrew more and more. She went still in London at the Festival of Czechoslovak music on and eleven times in Covent Garden. In 1919 she went back again for two seasons under the name " Ema Destinnová " at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She was seriously ill, a fast operation saved her life. She made a small tour through Yugoslavia in 1925 and appeared in Bratislava ( Pressburg ). 1926, there was a farewell to the stage one last concert in Prague's Lucerna and a tour of twenty cities of Czechoslovakia. In 1928 she was the tenth anniversary of the Czechoslovak Republic, a last concert in London. They eventually retired to her castle Stráz and were only occasionally concerts. " The most terrible thing is having to see an old woman on the stage," was their credo that they moved for voluntary retirement. Destinn devoted himself to singing lessons.

In the former Czechoslovakia, now the Czech Republic but also in Slovakia, she was hailed as a national hero and revered. Your soprano voice was of the purest beauty and clear as a bell, she was of an unusual expressiveness and range of expression that mastered a repertoire of over 80 major roles. Emmy Destinn died during an eye surgery on January 28, 1930 in Ceske Budejovice and was buried under a large proportion of the population on the military cemetery Vyšehrad.

Posthumous honor

Your life and destiny was in the film Divine immortalized Ema ( Ema Božská ). She is depicted on the 2000 crowns banknote. At her apartment building on Prague's Lesser Town, the city council had a memorial stone with the words " Here lived Ema Destinnová 1908-1914 " and a bronze bust mounted thereon install.

The asteroid ( 6583 ) Destinn was named after her.

Works

She composed some songs and wrote poems and novels. Ema Destinn was a recognized interpreter of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Wagner and the Italian opera, but also Czech works, such as Smetana and Zdeněk Fibich.

• Květy sněhu.
• The Abbé Galante. Set to music by Leo Blech. Berlin, 1907.

• Dr. Tasanová.
• Kněžna Libuse. Prague 1910.
• Ve stínu modré růže. Prague 1921.

• Radúz a Mahulena. (Czech fairy tale into German).
• Libretto Kovařovický Psohlavci.

• Nadarmo. ( Drama, which was performed in Švandovo Divadlo ).

• CD 4925 E. Destinnová - Arias and songs 1901-1909
• CD 5806 E. Destinnová - Arias and songs 1910-1921
• CD 5807 E. Destinnová - Arias and songs 1901
• LP 1701 E. Destinnová - Český repertoar