![Maria Stader signature](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/Maria_Stader_signature.jpg)
Maria Stader (November 5, 1911 – April 27, 1999) was a Hungarian-born Swiss lyric
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 ...
, known particularly for her
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 ...
interpretations.
Biography
Stader was born in
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, Austria-Hungary, on November 5, 1911, as Maria Molnár. During and after World War I, the price of food in Budapest was so high that it was difficult for her parents to support their five children. Maria and her younger sister, Elisabeth, were taken to Switzerland by
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...
to recuperate for three months after being diagnosed with malnutrition. There, Maria's foster parents requested she stay for a full nine months. However, once in Budapest again, Maria fell seriously ill and it was also determined she would need her tonsils operated on. Her foster parents arranged for her to return to Switzerland. Because of difficulties with the immigration office, Maria could not remain in the
canton of Zürich
The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...
, so her foster father found her a place with the Stader family in
Romanshorn
Romanshorn is a municipality in the district of Arbon in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland.
History
Romanshorn was probably settled in the 7th century, and is first mentioned in 779 as ''Rumanishorn'' in a land grant from Waldrata to the Abbe ...
, where there is also the commemorative Maria-Stader path. They later adopted her.
In 1939, Stader married Hans Erismann, the music director of
Weinfelden
Weinfelden is a municipality in the canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of the same name.
Weinfelden is an old town, which was known during Roman times as Quivelda (Winis Feld).
Weinfelden is mostly known through ...
and later the choir director of the
Zürich Opera House
The Zürich Opera House (german: Opernhaus Zürich, links=no) is an opera house in the Swiss city of Zürich. Located at the Sechseläutenplatz, it has been the home of the Zürich Opera since 1891, and also houses the Bernhard-Theater Zürich. ...
. Through the husband of her vocal teacher, Mathilde Bärlocher, she met
Stefi Geyer and her husband. Geyer herself was born in Budapest and had moved to Zürich in 1920; she then became an ongoing supporter of Stader's career. Another native of Budapest,
Ilona Durigo, became her vocal teacher in 1935 in Zürich and introduced her to Hermann and Lily Reiff (a student of
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
). The Reiffs' home was the frequent meeting place of
Adolf Busch
Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German–Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer.
Life and career
Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Elderin ...
and his brother
Hermann Busch,
Thomas Mann
Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
and the entire ensemble of the
Zürich Opera
Zürich Opera (Oper Zürich) is a Swiss opera company based in Zürich. The company gives performances in the Zürich Opera House.
History
The first performance at the current theatre occurred on 30 September 1891, with a production of Wagner's '' ...
and
Zürich Theater.
Fritz Busch
Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor.
Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...
arranged for Stader to go to the School in
Tremezzo
Tremezzo is a ''comune'' (or municipality) of some 1,300 people in the Province of Como, in the Italian region Lombardy.
It is located on the western shore of Lake Como between Mezzegra to the southwest and Griante to the northeast, and about ...
, run by the wife of
Artur Schnabel
Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...
, a few years later. From 1938 on, Stader received training from
Giannina Arangi-Lombardi in Milan.
Stader was a close friend of the Swiss politician
Walther Bringolf, as well as of numerous musicians – especially pianist
Clara Haskil
Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was also ...
and the Hungarian conductor
Ferenc Fricsay
Ferenc Fricsay (; 9 August 1914 – 20 February 1963) was a Hungarian conductor. From 1960 until his death, he was an Austrian citizen.
Biography
Fricsay was born in Budapest in 1914 and studied music under Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, E ...
(with whom she became acquainted through
Rolf Liebermann
Rolf Liebermann (14 September 1910 – 2 January 1999), was a Swiss composer and music administrator. He served as the Artistic Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1959 to 1973 and again from 1985 to 1988. He was also Artistic Director of ...
). She was also a friend of the French film director,
Emil-Edwin Reinert and she corresponded with
Albert Schweitzer
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...
.
Career
Stader first achieved fame for her interpretations of
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 ...
and her collaborations with conductor Ferenc Fricsay on works such as ''
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 ...
'', ''
Le nozze di Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...
'', ''
The Abduction from the Seraglio
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'', two versions (1954 and 1960) of 'Exsultate, jubilate' and the
Great Mass, as well as Verdi's
Messa da Requiem
The ''Messa da Requiem'' is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass ( Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, whom Verdi admired. The first performance, at ...
. She won, the
Geneva International Music Competition
The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...
in 1939, but although she "seemed poised for major stardom... her career was delayed by the outbreak of World War II," according to ''
Opera News
''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...
''.
["Maria Stader" in '']Opera News
''Opera News'' is an American classical music magazine. It has been published since 1936 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a non-profit organization located at Lincoln Center which was founded to engender the appreciation of opera and also support ...
'', July 1999. Later in her career, Stader acquired a reputation as an outstanding
Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
interpreter, especially with
Karl Richter and Ferenc Fricsay. She recorded the ''
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...
'' by
Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...
with
Karel Ančerl
Karel Ančerl (11 April 1908 – 3 July 1973) was a Czechoslovak conductor and composer, renowned especially for his performances of contemporary music and for his interpretations of music by Czech composers.
Ančerl was born into a prosper ...
, and Beethoven's opera ''
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 ...
'' (as Marzelline) with
Hans Knappertsbusch
Hans Knappertsbusch (12 March 1888 – 25 October 1965) was a German conductor, best known for his performances of the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss.
Knappertsbusch followed the traditional route for an aspiring conductor in Germ ...
.
Stader was highly praised for her fine, if not very powerful, voice. She nearly always performed operatic roles in the recording studio and seldom, if ever, on stage because of her small stature – she was about tall. She preferred the concert repertory, but, "even in concert, she frequently had to stand on a platform or box in order to be seen properly by the audience," according to ''Opera News''.
This also enabled Stader to avoid the strain experienced by many operatic singers, and preserve her fresh and delicate-sounding voice until well into the 1960s. She stood on the concert podium for the last time in
Philharmonic Hall in New York in Mozart's ''Requiem'' on December 7, 1969, "still in solid vocal condition."
Her concert tours had taken her around the world. Besides Europe and America, she sang in Japan, South Africa, and South America. Stader sang in various festivals, including the
Salzburg Festival
The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...
, the
Lucerne Festival
Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it current ...
, at the
Prades Festival and at the
Aspen Music Festival
The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado.
It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music students. Founded in 1949, the ...
. She sang under the leadership of many well-known conductors including
Eugen Jochum
Eugen Jochum (; 1 November 1902 – 26 March 1987) was a German conductor, best known for his interpretations of the music of Anton Bruckner, Carl Orff, and Johannes Brahms, among others.
Biography
Jochum was born to a Roman Catholic family in ...
,
Josef Krips
Josef Alois Krips (8 April 1902 – 13 October 1974) was an Austrian conductor and violinist.
Life and career
Krips was born in Vienna. His father was Josef Jakob Krips, a medical doctor and amateur singer, and his mother was Aloisia, née Seit ...
,
Eugene Ormandy
Eugene Ormandy (born Jenő Blau; November 18, 1899 – March 12, 1985) was a Hungarian-born American conductor and violinist, best known for his association with the Philadelphia Orchestra, as its music director. His 44-year association wit ...
,
George Szell
George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor and composer. He is widely considered one of the twentieth century's greatest condu ...
,
Carl Schuricht
Carl Adolph Schuricht (; 3 July 18807 January 1967) was a German conductor.
Life and career
Schuricht was born in Danzig (Gdańsk), German Empire; his father's family had been respected organ-builders. His mother, Amanda Wusinowska, a widow soo ...
,
Rafael Kubelík
Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer.
Son of a well-known violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague, and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of 1 ...
,
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the Un ...
,
Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen (21 June 1891 – 12 June 1966) was a German conductor.
Life
Scherchen was born in Berlin. Originally a violist, he played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens. He conducted in Riga ...
,
Otto Klemperer
Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
,
Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Alexandre Ansermet (; 11 November 1883 – 20 February 1969)"Ansermet, Ernest" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 435. was a Swiss conductor.
Biography
Ansermet ...
and
Dean Dixon
Charles Dean Dixon (January 10, 1915November 3, 1976) was an American conductor.
Career
Dixon was born in the upper-Manhattan neighborhood of Harlem in New York City to parents who had earlier migrated from the Caribbean. He studied conducting ...
. Until 1951, she taught at the Zürich Conservatory (merged in 1999 into the School of Music, Drama, and Dance (HMT), itself merged in 2007 into the
Zurich University of the Arts
Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich' ...
(ZHdK)) and later held
master class
A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...
es there.
She died in Zürich on April 27, 1999.
Awards
* 1939 – First place,
Geneva International Music Competition
The Geneva International Music Competition () is one of the world's leading international music competitions, founded in 1939. In 1957, it was one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competition (WFIMC), whose he ...
* 1950 –
Lilli Lehmann Medal
The Lilli Lehmann Medal is an award by the Mozarteum International Foundation, named in honour of soprano Lilli Lehmann.
Recipients
Among the people who have received it are:
* Ruth Kemper
* Margaret Halstead, 1933
* Irmgard Seefried
* George ...
,
International Mozarteum Foundation
The International Mozarteum Foundation (Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum) was founded in 1880 in Salzburg with its primary concern being the life and work of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Closely affiliated with the Mozarteum University Salzburg, it w ...
* 1956 – Silver Mozart Medal of the International Mozarteum Foundation
* 1964 –
Hans Georg Nägeli
Hans Georg Nägeli (26 May 1773 – 26 December 1836) was a composer and music publisher.
Nägeli was born in Wetzikon, Switzerland. He studied under his father as a child, and then opened a private music shop and publishing firm in the 1790s. In ...
Medal by the Zürich City Council
"Preisträgerinnen und Preisträger 1932 bis 1998: Hans-Georg Nägeli-Medaille für Verdienste um das musikalische Schaffen"
, Zürich City Council (accessed 3 July 2010)
Articles by Stader
* "Ferenc Fricsay", in: ''Diener der Musik. Unvergessene Solisten und Dirigenten unserer Zeit im Spiegel der Freunde''. Published by Martin Müller and Wolfgang Mertz. Tübingen, Rainer Wunderlich, 1965.
* "Zusammenarbeit mit Fricsay", in Friedrich Herzfeld
Friedrich Herzfeld (also ''Fritz Herzfeld'') (17 June 1897 – 19 September 1967) was a German Kapellmeister, musicologist and music critic.
Life and career
Born in Dresden, Herzfeld was Kapellmeister in Aachen, Dresden and Freiburg im Bre ...
(ed.): ''Ferenc Fricsay. Ein Gedenkbuch''. Berlin, Rembrand, 1964.
* ''Über Wilhelm Furtwängler
Gustav Heinrich Ernst Martin Wilhelm Furtwängler ( , , ; 25 January 188630 November 1954) was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest symphonic and operatic conductors of the 20th century. He was a major ...
'', in ''Furtwängler Recalled''. Zürich, Atlantis, 1965.
References
* Maria Stader, ''Nehmt meinen Dank. Erinnerungen.'' (Accept My Thanks. Memories.) Retold by Robert D. Abraham, Munich, 1979. (with repertoire, index of recordings and register of names)
External links
Biography with photographs
*
*
Mozart Coronation Mass "Agnus Dei" (YouTube, audio only)
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen (Schubert)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stader, Maria
1911 births
1999 deaths
Swiss operatic sopranos
Hungarian emigrants to Switzerland
Academic staff of the Zurich University of the Arts
20th-century Swiss women opera singers
Winners of the Geneva International Music Competition