Aino Seep (25 February 1925 – 8 July 1982) was an Estonian opera and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

and stage and film actress.

Early life and education

Aino Seep was born in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

in 1925 to parents Daniel Seep and Linda Seep (''née'' Klaos). She was one of two siblings. She attended primary and secondary schools in Tartu before enrolling in the Tartu School of Music (now, the Heino Eller Tartu Music School), studying under tenor and teacher Rudolf Jõks, and graduating in 1949.

Stage career

In 1949, shortly after graduating from the Tartu School of Music, Seep joined the Vanemuine theatre as an opera and operetta singer, opera soloist, and stage actress. Seep's first role at the Vanemuine was as Adele, Rosalinde's maid in

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ov ...

's 1874 operetta '' Die Fledermaus'' in 1949. This was followed by a 1950 performance as Susanna, the countess's maid in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's 1786 opera buffa ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

''. Seep's career onstage at the Vanemuine would span over thirty years. Some of her more notable roles include: * Musette, Giacomo Puccini's '' La bohème'' (1952) * Gilda,

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's '' Rigoletto'' (1953) * Teele,

Oskar Luts Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright. Biography Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...

' ''Kevade'' (1953) * Margarethe, Charles Gounod's '' Faust'' (1953) * Violetta, Giuseppe Verdi's ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'' (1954) * Vaike, Evald Aava's ''Vikerlased'' (1955) * Norina,

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...

's '' Don Pasquale'' (1957) * Despina, Mozart's ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

'' (1959) * Luisa, Sergei Prokofiev's ''

Betrothal in a Monastery ''Betrothal in a Monastery'' (Russian title ''Обручение в монастыре'') is an opera in nine scenes (four acts) by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson after Sheridan's ''The Duenna''. Proko ...

'' (1962) * Lola, Pietro Mascagni's '' Cavalleria rusticana'' (1963) * Lieschen, Johann Sebastian Bach's ''Coffee Cantata'' (1963) * Butterfly, Puccini's '' Madame Butterfly'' (1966) * Matilde, Boris Kõrver's ''Mees pisuhännaga'' (1968) * Violante, Mozart's ''

La finta giardiniera ' ("The Pretend Garden-Girl"), K. 196, is an Italian-language opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart wrote it in Munich in January 1775 when he was 18 years old and it received its first performance on 13 January at the in Munich. There is deb ...

'' (1970) * Parasja, Yuri Milyutin's ''Trembita'' (1973) * Guadalena, Jacques Offenbach's '' La Périchole'' (1974) * Mesihuul, Valdeko Viru's ''Kuulsuse narrid'' (1976) * Grandmother, Evgeny Schwartz's ''The Snow Queen'' (1978)

Film

From 1961, Aino Seep would appear in several Soviet-Estonian feature films; the first of which was the role of Juula in the 1961

Jüri Müür Jüri Müür (born 7 January 1929, Tartu – 17 November 1984) is an Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from F ...

-directed and

Aimée Beekman Aimée Beekman ( Malla; born 20 April 1933) is an Estonian writer noted in her country for several books said to present realistic depictions of modern life. Amongst her works is ''Valikuvõimalus'' or ''An Opportunity for Choice'', which involves ...

and

Vladimir Beekman Vladimir Beekman (23 August 1929 – 3 October 2009) was an Estonian writer, poet and translator. Early life and education After completing his primary education, he attended the Tallinn University of Technology and graduated in 1953 with a degre ...

penned drama ''Ühe küla mehed'' for Tallinna Kinostuudio. This was followed by the role of Lidia in the 1962 musical comedy color film ''Laulu sõber'' directed by Ilja Fogelman and Reet Kasesalu, also for Tallinna Kinostuudio. In 1963, Seep appeared in the role of Seppel in the Igor Yeltsov-directed drama ''Ühe katuse all'' for Tallinnfilm, which was adapted from the 1958 novel ''Ühes majas'' penned by

Hans Leberecht Hans Leberecht (1 December 1910 – 10 November 1960) was an Estonian writer. Many of his works mirrored socialist realism. His most important work was a story ''Valgus Koordis'' (1949). He was born in Saint Petersburg. His childhood years passed i ...

. Seep's final film appearance was in a small role in the 1966 Jüri Müür-directed drama ''Kirjad Sõgedate külast'', also for Tallinnfilm, and adapted from works by Estonian writer and poet

Juhan Smuul Juhan Smuul (18 February 1922 – 13 April 1971) was an Estonian writer. Until 1954 he used the given name Johannes Schmuul. Career Smuul was born in Koguva village on the island of Muhu to Jüri and Ruudu Schmuul (née Tuulik). He had three ...

Personal life

Aino Seep was married to Ago Breede (1923 – 2000) until her death in 1982. The couple lived in Tartu and had one son; choral conductor and music pedagogue Lauri Breede (born 1957).Postimees
''Pikameelset dirigenti ärritab sõnapidamatus'' 15 December 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2017.

Acknowledgements

* Merited Artist of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic (1969)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Seep, Aino 1925 births 1982 deaths 20th-century Estonian women opera singers Estonian operatic sopranos Estonian musical theatre actresses Estonian stage actresses Estonian film actresses Actresses from Tartu 20th-century Estonian actresses