Sophie Marie Ilse Helling-Rosenthal (15 February 188623 March 1939) was a German

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 ...

singer and

voice teacher A voice teacher or singing teacher is a musical instructor who assists adults and children in the development of their abilities in singing. Typical work A voice teacher works with a student singer to improve the various skills involved in singi ...

who appeared primarily in

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

and

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

. She formed a vocal quartet, the Rosenthal-Quartet, with her husband

Wolfgang Rosenthal Wolfgang Rosenthal (8 September 1882 – 10 June 1971) was a German Oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral surgeon. Until the mid-1930s, he also pursued a parallel career as a bass-baritone singer. After the destructive bombing of the in Leipzig ...

as the

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

Marta Adam Mart(h)a Adam (born 27 August 1895) was a German contralto and voice teacher who appeared exclusively in lied and oratorio. She formed a vocal quartet, the , with soprano Ilse Helling-Rosenthal, tenor Hans Lißmann and her later husband Wolfgang ...

and

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Hans Lißmann.

Life

Born in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Helling was the daughter of the Leipzig merchant Traugott Iwan Helling and his wife Helene, ''née'' Schmidt. She received her vocal training at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (german: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn ...

with Marie Hedmondt. She became a voice teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory. On 8 June 1914, she married

, a physician and

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

, at the

Thomaskirche , native_name_lang = , image = Leipzig Thomaskirche.jpg , imagelink = , imagealt = , caption = , pushpin map = , pushpin label position = , pushpin map alt ...

in Leipzig. The couple moved to

Bad Blankenburg Bad Blankenburg () is a spa town in the district of Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 6 km southwest of Rudolstadt, and 37 km southeast of Erfurt. It is most famous for being the location of the first kindergart ...

. With him, she formed in Leipzig the Rosenthal-Quartet in 1919, including the contralto

and the tenor Hans Lißmann. The vocal ensemble performed in Europe with great success. In 1918, they performed the '' Liebesliederwalzer'' by Johannes Brahms, and a reviewer noted the beauty and blending of their voices. On 11 March 1920, they were the soloists in a concert at the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The fi ...

, with

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...

conducting Bruckner's

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

; the organist was

Karl Straube Montgomery Rufus Karl Siegfried Straube (6 January 1873 – 27 April 1950) was a German church musician, organist, and choral conducting, conductor, famous above all for championing the abundant organ music of Max Reger. Career Born in Berlin, ...

. She appeared in 1918 as the soprano soloist in a performance of Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'' in Cologne, and of Handel's ''Messiah'' at the Johanniskirche in

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

. In 1931, Helling-Rosenthal recorded Bach's cantata ''Sie werden euch in den Bann tun'', BWV 44, for the radio, with the

Thomanerchor The Thomanerchor (English: St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig) is a boys' choir in Leipzig, Germany. The choir was founded in 1212. The choir comprises about 90 boys from 9 to 18 years of age. The members, called ''Thomaner'', reside in a boarding scho ...

and the

Gewandhausorchester The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

conducted by Straube. Her pupils included Erna Hähnel,

Lotte Wolf-Matthäus Lotte Wolf-Matthäus (8 April 1908 – 12 November 1979) was a German contralto singer, who focused on the works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Born in Brünlos (now part of Zwönitz), she studied voice at the Landeskonservatorium Leipzig with Ils ...

(1926–1930), and her daughter Hella Ebert-Rosenthal. GrabmalHellingRosenthal

Helling-Rosenthal died at the age of 53 of pneumonia during an epidemic in Leipzig. She was buried at the Südfriedhof.

References

External links

''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik''
(1919) {{DEFAULTSORT:Helling Rosenthal, Ilse German sopranos German voice teachers Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig 1886 births 1939 deaths Musicians from Leipzig