Aloyse Michalesi, married name Aloyse Krebs-Michalesi, also Aloysia Krebs-Michalesi (29 August 1824 – 5 August 1904) was a German operatic

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

Life

Michalesi was born in Prague. Her parents were the opera bassist Wenzel Michalesi (Czech: ''Václav Michalička''; 1794-1836) and his wife Josefine (d 1845), a singer. Michalesi's younger sister Josefine Michalesi (1 September 1826 in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

- 13 October 1892), became a soprano. Her parents were members of the Prague Opera, leaving it in 1829 and embarking on art tours, eventually coming to the

Staatstheater Mainz The Staatstheater Mainz (Mainz State Theatre) is a theatre in Mainz, Germany, which is owned and operated by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Situated on the Gutenbergplatz, the complex comprises two theatres which are connected by an undergrou ...

. When her father died there in 1836, the family had to rely on Aloyse for extra income. She received lessons in stage singing from her mother, the theatre's first singer. When her mother went to London with Schumann's opera company in 1840, her daughter accompanied her. Later they were at the theatre in Brno, where Michalesi made her debut as Elvira in Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

''. There she worked for several years in youthful

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 ...

as well as

roles before moving to the

Hamburg State Opera The Hamburg State Opera (in German: Staatsoper Hamburg) is a German opera company based in Hamburg. Its theatre is near the square of Gänsemarkt. Since 2015, the current ''Intendant'' of the company is Georges Delnon, and the current ''General ...

in 1846 after the death of her mother. On the recommendation of

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le di ...

, she accepted a position at the Dresden Court Theatre in 1849. Her first role there was that of Fides in Meyerbeer's opera '' Le prophète'', which had its first performance on 30 January 1850. In 1850, she married the composer and ''Hof

kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

Karl August Krebs Karl August Krebs (16 January 1804 as Karl August Miedke – 16 May 1880), also Carl, Miedtke, was a German pianist, composer, conductor and ''Kapellmeister''. Life Krebs was born in Nuremberg in 1804. His parents were the actor Carl Miedke an ...

(1804-1880) and called herself Krebs-Michalesi from then on. In December 1851, their daughter Mary Krebs-Brenning was born, who was later to become a successful pianist. Michalesi took leave from the Dresden Opera Association in 1870 and from then on sang only concerts and in church. As a singing teacher, she gained a good reputation beyond the borders of Germany. When Michalesi died in August 1904 at the age of 79, she had outlived her daughter by four years. Michalesi is buried at the Old Catholic Cemetery in Dresden.Aloyse Michalesi
on Find a Grave

Students

* Ernestine Schumann-Heink

References

External links

Krebs, Aloyse
on BMLO
Krebs-Michalesi Aloysia
on Operissimo {{DEFAULTSORT:Michalesi, Aloyse 1824 births 1904 deaths German operatic contraltos 19th-century German women opera singers 19th-century Czech women opera singers German people of Czech descent People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Singers from Prague Burials at Old Catholic Cemetery, Dresden

Life

Students

References

Further reading

External links