Johanna André (30 June 186123 June 1926) 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 ...

in opera and concert and a voice teacher. A long-term member of the Braunschweig Court Theatre, she appeared at major German opera houses, especially in dramatic roles such as Beethoven's

Fidelio ''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...

, and Wagner's Senta, Isolde and

Brünnhilde Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( non, Brynhildr , gmh, Brünhilt, german: Brünhild , label=Modern German or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess Brunhilda o ...

. She took part in the world premiere of Wagner's '' Parsifal'' at the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

Life

Born in Bad Doberan, André was the daughter of the grand ducal court opera singer Anton André, who was a popular member of the Schwerin Court Theatre. After voice training in Berlin, she made her stage debut there as Ännchen 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 ...

'' at the Kroll Opera in 1875. She then performed at the court theatre in Darmstadt and from 1876 at the Stadttheater Bremen. In 1877, she was engaged by

Franz Abt Franz Wilhelm Abt (22 December 1819 – 31 March 1885) was a German composer and choral conductor. He composed roughly 3,000 individual works mostly in the area of vocal music. Several of his songs were at one time universally sung, and have obta ...

for the court theatre in Braunschweig, where she remained until she retired from the stage in 1906. She became known for dramatic roles by Wagner, including Senta in '' Der fliegende Holländer'', Isolde in '' Tristan und Isolde'', and Brünnhilde in '' Der Ring des Nibelungen''. Other leading roles included Donna Anna in Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'' and Pamina in '' Die Zauberflöte'', the title role in Beethoven's ''

'', and Agathe in ''Der Freischütz''. On 27 November 1887, she took part in the world premiere of ''Der wilde Jäger'' by August Schulz in Braunschweig. André sang these roles also as a guest at the Hannover and Kassel court operas, at the Oper Frankfurt and the Oper Leipzig. In 1882, she was invited to participate at the world premiere of ''Parsifal'' at the second

as one of the Flower Maidens, repeated the two following years. André was also active as a concert singer and as a singing teacher in Braunschweig, where she died at the age of 64.

Life

References

Further reading