Anna Maria Klemming (1864–1889) was a Swedish operatic soprano who made her debut in April 1887 at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

as Mathilde in Rossini's '' William Tell''. Over the next two years, thanks to her clear, high-reaching voice and her attractive Nordic looks, she performed the leading soprano roles in the company's repertoire. She was particularly successful in 1888 as Julia in Gounod's '' Roméo et Juliette''. Her successful career was short, ending abruptly with her untimely death in August 1889.

Early life and education

Born in Solna on 6 February 1864, Anna Maria Klemming was the daughter of the tinsmith Vilhelm Klemming and his wife Elisabet née Burman. She studied at the

Stockholm Conservatory The Royal College of Music, Stockholm ( sv, Kungliga Musikhögskolan i Stockholm) is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was ma ...

under Hjalmar Håkansson (1882–85) and later in Copenhagen under

Fritz Arlberg Fritz Georg Efraim Arlberg (21 March 1830 in Leksand, Sweden – 21 February 1896 in Christiania, Sweden) was a Swedish baritone, teacher, composer, opera singer, translator of opera libretti and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. ...

(1885–87).

Career

Klemming's first public appearance was at a concert in Malmö in 1886 while still a student in Denmark. Press reports commented on her simple yet excellent tone and her educated delivery. After further concert appearances in both Denmark and Sweden, she initially planned to join the

Royal Danish Opera The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first ser ...

but instead returned to Sweden. Klemming made her stage debut on 24 April 1887 at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm as Mathilde in Rossini's '' William Tell'' but was far more enthusiastically acclaimed on 13 June when she appeared as Julia in Gounod's ''Roméo et Juliette''. Her performance paved the way for her future as a soloist, after the departure of both

Selma Ek Selma Ek (3 September 1856 – 3 May 1941) was a Swedish operatic soprano who had an active international career from the 1870s through the 1890s. Like Lilli Lehmann and Lillian Nordica, she was one of those universally talented singers of the lat ...

and

Mathilda Grabow Mathilda Grabow (23 May 1852 – 29 May 1940), was a Swedish opera singer (soprano). She was a court singer ( Hovsångare) (1886) and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (1895) and was given Litteris et Artibus (1895). She was a stud ...

. Her dramatic roles included Agathe in Weber's '' Der Freischütz'', Elsa in Wagner's '' Lohengrin'' and Venus in '' Tannhäuser'' while she also appeared in leading lyrical roles such as Marguerite in Gounod's '' Faust'' and the Marchesa in Verdi's ''

Un giorno di regno ''Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao'' (''A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus'', but often translated into English as ''King for a Day'') is an operatic '' melodramma giocoso'' in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto ...

''. She created the role of the Princess in the world premiere of Ivar Hallström's ''Per Svinaherde'' (1887). One of her last appearances was the demanding role of Valentine in Meyerbeer's ''

Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work suc ...

'' where she reached such high notes that she was immediately considered the prima donna of the company. Although Klemming had felt ill at times during the spring of 1989, she continued to perform until 15 June. She died in Stockholm on 8 August 1889, apparently as a result of over-exhaustion.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Klemming, Anna 1864 births 1889 deaths Actresses from Stockholm Swedish operatic sopranos 19th-century Swedish opera singers