Erika Wedekind, complete named ''Frida Marianne Erica Wedekind'', also ''Erika Oschwald'', (13 November 1868 – 10 October 1944) was a German operatic

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 ...

. She came from the family. Her brothers were the writers Frank Wedekind and . She was married since 1898 to the Kgl. Privy Councillor Walther Oschwald.

Life and career

Born in Hanover, Wedekind grew up at

Lenzburg Castle Lenzburg Castle (german: Schloss Lenzburg) is a castle located above the old part of the town of Lenzburg in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland. It ranks among the oldest and most important of Switzerland. The castle stands on the almost circular ...

in the Swiss canton of

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

, which had been purchased by her father – a general practitioner. Although she was celebrated by the local press for her successful stage performances as a young girl in Lenzburg and

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

, her father refused to allow her to train as a singer and forced her to train as a teacher. It was only after his death that she graduated from the Dresdner Konservatorium from 1891 to 1894, initially with Gustav Scharfe (until his death in 1892) and studied singing with the famous soprano and music teacher

Aglaja Orgeni Aglaja Orgeni (born Anna Maria von Görger St Jörgen; 17 December 1841 – 15 March 1926), was a Hungarian coloratura soprano.Forbes, Elizabeth (1992). "Orgeni, Aglaja" in Sadie 3: 752. Biography Orgeni was born in Rimászombat, Galicia (n ...

. Wedekind made her debut in 1894 as Frau Fluth in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'' by Otto Nicolai and in the same year received her first engagement at the Dresdner Hofoper, where she was a celebrated

coloratura soprano A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...

until 1909. Due to her great success, which also took her to international stages, she was given the official title of "Royal Saxon Kammersängerin". Wedekind took part in the world premiere of the opera ''Die Schönen von Fogaras'' by

Alfred Grünfeld Alfred Grünfeld (4 July 1852 in Prague – 4 January 1924 in Vienna) was an Austrian pianist and composer. Life Alfred Grünfeld was born as the second of eight children to Jewish leather merchant Moritz Grünfeld (born 1817 Kolín nad Labem) a ...

, as well as in the Dresden premiere of Engelbert Humperdinck's ''

Hänsel und Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in Grimms' Fairy Tales, ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little ...

''. After she left the Dresden Court Opera in the same year, performances as a concert singer predominantly followed. Her brothers, the writers Donald and Frank Wedekind, who had no professional success at the time, received occasional financial support from her sister. Wedekind was one of the first female coloratura sopranos in Germany and an outstanding representative of her field. She gave more than a thousand performances in Germany, Prague, Moscow, St Petersburg, Budapest, Stockholm, Paris and London before becoming an internationally sought-after singing teacher between 1914 and 1930. From 1930 she lived in seclusion in Switzerland, where she died in Zurich in 1944 at the age of 75.

Awards

In 1909 she was awarded the civic gold medal ''Bene merentibus'' by the Ministry of the Royal House of Saxony for her achievements. She held the of the

Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in Northern Germany, held by the younger line of the House of Mecklenburg residing in Neustrelitz. Like the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, it was a sovereign member state ...

.Erika Wedekind sings chacun le sait (in German) from La Fille du regiment 1907
/ref> * Königlich-sächsische Kammersängerin in Dresden * Grossherzoglich-hessische Kammersängerin in Wiesbaden

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedekind, Erika German operatic sopranos 1868 births 1944 deaths Musicians from Hanover

Life and career

Awards

Further reading

References

External links