Maria Albertina Gelhaar née Laurin (1858-1920) was a Swedish operatic soprano. She made her debut in September 1881 at Stockholm's Nya Teatern in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's one-act opera '' Der Schauspieldirektor''. In February 1883, she appeared for the first time at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

as Zerlina 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 ...

''. Engaged by the company until 1888, her roles included Fiametta in

Franz von Suppé Franz von Suppé (né Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppe) (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A c ...

's '' Boccaccio'', Papagena in Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' and Mercedes in

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''.

Biography

Born in Stockholm on 4 August 1858, Maria Albertina Laurin was the daughter of the clock factory owner Carl Fredrik Laurin and his first wife Henriette née Moberg. She studied voice under

Wilhelmina Gelhaar Wilhelmina Charlotta Gelhaar (1837–1923) was a Swedish operatic soprano who performed at the Royal Swedish Opera, Royal Theatre in Stockholm from 1857 to 1866. She also gave concert performances. Thanks to her coloratura soprano roles, her good ...

and from 1876 to 1889 under Julius Günther at the Royal Swedish Conservatory. In 1886, she married Stockholm's postmaster, Tom Otto Wilhelm Gelhaar, with whom she had a daughter, the opera singer Signe Gelhaar-Bågo. In September 1882, she made her debut at Stockholm's Nya Teater as Silvia in Mozart's ''Der Schauspieldirektor'' and went on to take the role of Fiametta in

's '' Boccaccio'' and that of Maritana in

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...

's comic opera ''

Don César de Bazan ''Don César de Bazan'' is an opéra comique in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Philippe-François Pinel "Dumanoir" and Jules Chantepie, based on the play by d'Ennery and Dumanoir, which was first perform ...

''. On 13 February 1883, she appeared for the first time at the Royal Swedish Opera as Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni''. The following April she performed the role of Papagena in Mozart's ''

'' and in September appeared

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Un giorno di regno ''Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao'' (''A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus'', but often translated into English as ''King for a Day'') is an operatic '' melodramma giocoso'' in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto ...

''. Engaged by the company from 1883 to 1888, roles included Marcedes in ''Carmen'', Zobeide in Daniel Auber's ''

Le maçon ' (French for ''The Mason'') is an ''opéra comique'' in three acts by Daniel Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. It premiered at the Opéra-Comique Salle Feydeau in Paris on 3 May 1825. It was to become Auber's first en ...

'' and Angelina in

Luigi Cherubini Luigi Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the gre ...

's ''

Les deux journées ''Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d'eau'' (''The Two Days, or The Water Carrier'') is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It takes the form of an opéra comique, meaning not that the subject matte ...

''. Maria Gelhaar died in Stockholm in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelhaar, Maria 1858 births 1920 deaths Actresses from Stockholm Swedish operatic sopranos 19th-century Swedish opera singers