Friederike Funk, married name La Grua bzw. Funk La Grua (14 November 1796 - after 1863) 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 ...

and Royal Saxon Kammersinger in Dresden.

Life

Born in

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

, the daughter of a postmaster from her hometown received her vocal training from

Johann Aloys Miksch Johann (Nepomuk) Aloys Miksch (19 July 1765 – 24 September 1845); sometimes spelled ''Mie(c)ksch'' or ''Johannes'') was a Bohemian singer, (tenor) and singing teacher. Life Born in St. Georgenthal in Bohemia, in 1777 Miksch became boys' cho ...

in Dresden from 1813. In May 1816, she received her first engagement at the Dresdner Hoftheater under the direction of

Francesco Morlacchi Francesco Giuseppe Baldassare Morlacchi (14 June 1784 – 28 October 1841) was an Italian composer of more than twenty operas. During the many years he spent as the royal Royal Kapellmeister in Dresden, he was instrumental in popularizing the Ita ...

. Afterwards, accompanied by her brother and at the behest of the Saxon king she spent two years in Italy to perfect her voice. She received this royal scholarship through the mediation of Morlacchi. In Italy she performed among others in Naples and St. Carlo and took lessons in Naples with

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (; 4 April 1752 – 5 May 1837) was an Italian composer, chiefly of opera. Life Early career Zingarelli was born in Naples, where he studied (from the age of 7) at the Santa Maria di Loreto Conservatory under Fena ...

and

Luigi Mosca Luigi Mosca (1775 – 30 November 1824) was Italian composer of operas and sacred music and a noted singing teacher. He composed eighteen operas, most of which were originally for theatres in Naples, but played throughout Italy in their day. Biog ...

. In the autumn of 1818, now engaged at the Italian and German Operas in Dresden, she sang the title role in Rossini's ''

Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra ''Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra'' (; ''Elizabeth, Queen of England'') is a ''dramma per musica'' or opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Giovanni Schmidt, from the play ''Il paggio di Leicester'' (''Leicester's Page'') by C ...

'', and in 1822 Agathe in Weber's ''

Der Freischütz ' ( J. 277, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind, based on a story by Johann August Apel and Friedrich Laun from their 181 ...

''. In 1824, she sang Eglantine in Weber's ''

Euryanthe ''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...

''. She performed among others with the singers Anna Maria Neumann-Sessi and

Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, born Wilhelmine Schröder (6 December 180426 January 1860), was a German operatic soprano. As a singer, she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the conce ...

In 1827, after guest performances in Darmstadt, she went to Italy again, where she received an engagement in Palermo. After her marriage in Palermo to the tenor Signor La Grua, she returned to Dresden in the 1830s, now under the name Friederike Funk La Grua, and worked as a singing teacher. Even after her marriage, she still performed sporadically Lastly, she lived with her daughter

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, also a singer among others in Paris, Dresden, Vienna and Turin, as well as a singing teacher, in Paris.

Emmy La Grua Emmy La Grua (also Emma, Emmi or Emilia) (born 15 May 1831 in Palermo; died after 1869) was a 19th-century Italian opera singer (soprano) who performed successfully internationally. Biography Emmy La Grua was the daughter of the royal Saxon c ...

received singing lessons from Pauline Garcia and Caroline Ungher-Sabatier.See ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'', 17 January 1851,
Numerized
.

References

External links

*
Funk Friederike
on Operissimo

on WeberGA
Friederike Funk
bei Stadtwiki Dresden {{DEFAULTSORT:Funk, Friederike German operatic sopranos 1796 births 19th-century deaths People from Meissen

Life

References

Further reading

External links