Emilie da Fonseca, married surnames ''Muller'' and ''Bratz'' (31 December 1803 – 8 May 1884) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

stage actor and

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

. She belonged to the

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

group of artists in the first national theatre in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. She was also among the most noted artists of her time in Norway.

Life

Emilie da Fonseca was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark. She was the daughter of Abraham da Fonseca (1776–1849) and Marie Sofie Kiærskou (1784–1863). She and her sister Ida Henriette da Fonseca (1802–1858) were students of Giuseppe Siboni (1780–1839), choir master of the

Royal Danish Theatre 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 s ...

Opera in

. She debuted in October 1827 as Susanna in '' The Marriage of Figaro'' at the Copenhagen Opera, and was given a position there alongside her sister the same year. In 1831, she left Denmark and was given a position at the newly opened Christiania Public Theatre (''

Christiania Offentlige Theater Christiania Offentlige Theater ('Christiania Public Theatre') or ''Det Strømbergske Teater'' ('Strömberg Theatre') was a historic theatre in Oslo in Norway, active between 1827 and 1835. It was the first public theatre in Oslo and in Norway, and ...

'') in Christiania (now Oslo). In Norway, she became one of the most noted artists. She also performed as a

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

singer in the concerts arranged by the musical society, which performed many arias from famous operas in the Norwegian capital at this time. She first married in 1839 to music teacher Ludvig Ernst Müller who died ca. 1840. After his death, she was married in 1841 to artist Ludvig Wilhelm Theodor Bratz (1811-1868).

References

Norsk musikkhistorisk arkiv

– runeberg.org * Børre Qvamme: ''Norsk musikkhistorisk arkiv. Børre Qvammes samlinger. Halfdan Kjerup og Operaen'' (Halfdan Kjerup and the Opera) (In Norwegian) 19th-century Norwegian actresses Naturalised citizens of Norway Norwegian stage actresses Year of death missing Year of birth missing Norwegian operatic sopranos Danish operatic sopranos 19th-century Danish women opera singers Danish people of Portuguese descent Danish emigrants to Norway 19th-century Norwegian women opera singers {{Denmark-opera-singer-stub