Piroska Anday (12 December 1899, 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 ...
– 22 December 1977, in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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) known as Rosette Anday, was a leading Hungarian
mezzo-soprano.
Life
On 23 September 1921,
Bizet's opera ''
Carmen'' was performed at the
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...
and a hitherto unknown 18-year-old woman sang the most difficult arias of the opera.
Franz Schalk, the then director of the Vienna State Opera, had heard the young singer a few months earlier in Budapest, where she studied singing at the local conservatory and took violin lessons with the composer
Jenő Hubay
Jenő Hubay, Jenő Hubay von Szalatna, hu, szalatnai Hubay Jenő (; 15 September 185812 March 1937), also known by his German name Eugen Huber (), was a Hungarian violinist, composer and music teacher.
Early life
Hubay was born into a Ger ...
. Schalk employed her immediately, without offering her a customary guest engagement and within a short time Rosette Anday became one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of the Vienna State Opera.
One of her teachers was the alto and mezzo soprano Mme. Charles Cahier who had sung ''Carmen'' at the Vienna Court Opera between 1907 and 1911. Funded by Schalk and
Richard Strauss, she gave her first song recital in the
Grand Musikverein in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
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in the same season.
After her debut, she sang first as ''Cherubino'' in
Mozart's opera ''
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 ...
'', then as ''Dorabella'' in the opera ''
Così fan tutte'' (in this role she also appeared in one of the first opera performances of 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 Ama ...
). Since her voice became increasingly voluminous in a very short time, she took more and more roles in
French and
Italian opera in her repertoire and sang in
Verdi's opera ''
Aida
''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...
'', the figure of ''Waltraute'' in
Wagner's opera ''
Götterdämmerung
' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled (''The Ring of the Nibelung'', or ''The Ring Cycle'' or ''The Ring'' for short). It received its premiere at the on 17 August 1876, as ...
'' and the role of ''Brangäne'' in ''
Tristan and Isolde
Tristan and Iseult, also known as Tristan and Isolde and other names, is a medieval chivalric romance told in numerous variations since the 12th century. Based on a Celtic legend and possibly other sources, the tale is a tragedy about the illic ...
''. Five years after her debut at the Vienna State Opera, she sang the dream role of every mezzo soprano: The role of ''Dalila'' in
Camille Saint-Saëns opera ''
Samson et Dalila
''Samson and Delilah'' (french: Samson et Dalila, links=no), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater ( ...
''.
Afterwards she toured through all major opera houses in Europe, as well as through North and South America. Here she celebrated her greatest success in the role of ''Klytämnestra'' in the ostrich -Oper Elektra, but the Vienna State Opera was always closely connected.
In 1938, after the
annexation of Austria
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
, Rosette Anday was banned from performing because of her Jewish background, she lived in a "
privileged mixed marriage", but had to hide from the deportations.
Shortly after the end of the war she started her new career at the
Theater an der Wien
The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...
.
Rosette Anday was one of the youngest chamber singer in history and one of the most dedicated opera singers ever. She won many prizes around the globe. From the Vienna State Opera her membership was transferred honorary. Extremely popular in Viennese society, she lived in her villa in
Pressbaum
Pressbaum is a town in the district of St. Pölten-Land in the Austrian state of Lower Austria
Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in t ...
( St. Pölten-Land district ) in ''Rosette Anday Street'' until the end of her life. She died ten days after her 74th birthday and found her final resting place in a ''grave of honor'' (german:
Ehrengrab) at the
Vienna Central Cemetery
The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...
(group 32 C, number 48).
Honors
* 1955:
Golden medal for services to the Republic of AustriaAufstellung aller durch den Bundespräsidenten verliehenen Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich ab 1952
(PDF; 6,9 MB)
*In 1980, the ''Andayweg was'' named after her in Vienna Penzing (14th district) .
Literature
* ''Anday, Rosette''. In: ''Großes Sängerlexikon
''Großes Sängerlexikon'' (''Biographical Dictionary of Singers'', literally: Large singers' lexicon) is a single-field dictionary of singers in classical music, edited by Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens and first published in 1987. The first ...
'', 2000, S. 493ff.
References
External links
*
Entry to ''Rosette Anday''
in the Austria-Forum
Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German and English about Austria-related topics.
Background
The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in 1996 by the Austrian Federal Minist ...
(in the AEIOU- Österreich-Lexikon
Austria-Forum is a freely accessible online collection of reference works in both German and English about Austria-related topics.
Background
The predecessor of Austria-Forum, the AEIOU project was launched in 1996 by the Austrian Federal Mini ...
)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anday, Rosette
1899 births
1977 deaths
Hungarian mezzo-sopranos