Esther Charlotte Brandes after Anton Graff

Esther Charlotte Brandes (1746-May 13, 1786), was a German actress 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 was born in Różyńsk Wielki and was the daughter of Prussian official Gottfried Salomo Kochin. She was engaged in the Schuch theater company in 1764-68, in the

Seyler Theatre Company The Seyler Theatre Company, also known as the Seyler Company (German: ''Seylersche Schauspiel-Gesellschaft'', sometimes ''Seylersche Truppe''), was a theatrical company founded in 1769 by Abel Seyler, a Hamburg businessman originally from Switzer ...

in 1768-75, and at the Rigaer Stadttheater after its foundation. She performed as Medea, Orsina, Minna von Barnhelm. She became the most popular for her role of Ariadne in the duodrama "

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...

" with music composed by

Georg Benda Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia. Biography Born into a family of notable musician ...

(1722-1795). She is also known to have dressed in a historical costume for this play, which was an innovation for her time in an age when actors generally did not yet dress in historically correct costumes for their roles. She was depicted in this role in a famous painting.Brandes (born Koch), Esther Charlotte. W: ''

Deutsches Theater-Lexikon The ''Deutsche Theater-Lexikon'' is, according to its subtitle, a "biography and bibliography manual". The encyclopedia lists stage actors from the German-speaking area. The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek leads the ''Deutsche Theater-Lexikon'' un ...

''. Biographisches und bibliographisches Handbuch. Begr. von

Wilhelm Kosch Wilhelm Franz Josef Kosch (2 October 1879 – 20 December 1960) was an Austrian historian of literature and theatre and lexicographer. The lexicon that he conceived and later revised several times, the ' is a references in the field of German ...

, fortgef. von Ingrid Bigler-Marschall. Teil. 1. Bern tc. Francke 1953. s. 191-192. Esther Charlotte married Johann Christian Brandes (1735 - 1799) on 24 May 1764 in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. They had three children, notably the singer, actress, composer and pianist Minna Brandes (1765 - 1788). The Brandes family also prepared concerts for Princess

Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern Duchess Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern (8 November 1715 – 13 January 1797) was Queen of Prussia (Queen in Prussia until 1772) and Electress of Brandenburg as the wife of Frederick the Great. She was the longest-serv ...

. She died on May 13, 1786 in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandes, Esther Charlotte 1746 births 1786 deaths 18th-century German women opera singers 18th-century German actresses German stage actresses