Emmy Charlotta Achté née Strömer (1850–1924) was an operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

, the first prima donna of the

Finnish Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet ( fi, Suomen Kansallisooppera ja -baletti; sv, Finlands Nationalopera och -balett) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the T ...

. She performed in Helsinki from 1873 to 1879, excelling in dramatic roles. She was also a voice teacher for over 40 years, starting an opera class at the Helsinki Institute of Music.

Biography

Born in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

on 14 November 1850, Emmy Strömer studied singing in Helsinki under

Emilie Mechelin Emilie Mechelin (8 April 1838 — 22 December 1917) was a Finnish operatic soprano and pedagogue, notable among other things for being the first singing teacher of the Helsinki School of Music (later to become Sibelius Academy). Early life and ...

. From 1869 to 1873, she received further training in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

under Fredrika Stenhammar (1838-1880) and in Paris under Jean-Jacques Masset. In 1875, she married Lorenz Nicolai Achté, the conductor of the Finnish Opera. When

Kaarlo Bergbom Kaarlo Bergbom (2 October 1843, Vyborg, Viipuri – 17 January 1906) was a Finland, Finnish theatre director. He was the founder of the Finnish National Theatre, the first Finnish language theatre company. Though he wrote very little as a play ...

opened the Finnish Opera in 1873, Achté played all the main mezzo-soprano roles until 1879. These included Azucena in '' Il trovatore'', Valentine in ''

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 ...

'' and Pamina in '' The Magic Flute''. She also gave concerts in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Germany and in 1878 sang at the opera in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

as a guest star. She is also remembered for her work as a voice teacher over a period of 40 years from 1874. In the early 1880s, she studied further in Dresden under Eugen Hildach. In 1892, Achté performed in Sibelius' choral symphony '' Kullervo'' and in 1896, she played Chatelaine in his ''

Jungfrun i tornet Lickershamn is a small settlement and fishing village situated in Stenkyrka on the Swedish island of Gotland. The place is most noted for the rauks in the area, including Gotland's largest rauk the ''Jungfrun'' ("The Maiden"). One of the asteroid ...

''. Achté served as a teacher at her husband's Cantor-Organist school. After his death in 1900, she headed the establishment until 1922. From 1910 to 1913, she ran a private opera school and in 1912 she initiated an opera class at the Helsinki Institute of Music. From 1910, she also taught drama and song at Helsinki's Swedish Theatre, directing a number of operas from 1912. Emmy Achté was the mother of the internationally famous opera singers Aino Ackté and

Irma Tervani Irma Tervani, stage name of Irma Achté, (1887–1936) was a Finnish contralto opera singer who performed at the Finnish Opera in Helsinki and at the Dresden Royal Opera. She is remembered for her interpretation of ''Carmen'' and for her Wagneria ...

. She died in Helsinki on 2 December 1924.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achte, Emmy 19th-century Finnish women opera singers Finnish operatic mezzo-sopranos 1850 births 1924 deaths Singers from Helsinki People from Oulu