Povla Frijsh (3 August 1881 – 10 July 1960) was a Danish classical
soprano 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 ...
.
Life
Frijsh was born on the island of
Ærø
Ærø () is one of the Danish Baltic Sea islands, and part of the Southern Denmark Region.
Since 1 January 2006 the whole of Ærø has constituted a single municipality, known as Ærø Kommune. Before that date, there were two municipalities ...
in Denmark in 1881. She studied with Ove Christensen in Denmark and Jean Périer in Paris.
[Povla Frijsh]
OxfordIndex, Retrieved 10 July 2017
She mainly sang in concerts and recitals; although she did make a few
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...
appearances at the
Paris Opera and the
Royal Danish Theatre
The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
. She toured with artists including
Raoul Pugno,
Pablo Casals, and
Jacques Thibaud
Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist.
Biography
Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won th ...
.
[D. L. L..]
"Povla Frijsh Praises Judgment of American Audiences"
''Musical America'' (March 31, 1917): 6. She was a champion of contemporary classical music, and was an important exponent of the works of
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclass ...
,
Randall Thompson,
Francis Poulenc,
Rebecca Clarke, and
Samuel Barber. After a 49-year-long performance career, she retired from singing in 1947. Her notable pupils included
Adele Addison
Adele Addison (born July 24, 1925) is an American lyric soprano who was a figure in the classical music world during the 1950s and 1960s. Although she did appear in several operas, Addison spent most of her career performing in recital and conc ...
,
Jean Kraft
Jean Kraft (January 9, 1927 – July 15, 2021) was an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She began her career singing with the New York City Opera (NYCO) during the early 1960s, after which she embarked on a partnership with The Santa Fe Opera fr ...
, and
Cornelius L. Reid.
She died in
Blue Hill, Maine
Blue Hill is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,792 at the 2020 census. It is home to the Blue Hill Public Library, Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, George Stevens Academy, the Blue Hill Harbor School, The Bay Sch ...
, in 1960.
[
]
References
External links
*
1881 births
1960 deaths
Danish operatic sopranos
Voice teachers
20th-century Danish women opera singers
Danish music educators
Danish women music educators
People from Ærø Municipality
{{Denmark-opera-singer-stub