Rosl Schwaiger (5 September 1918 – 19 April 1970) was an Austrian operatic
coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills.
The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...
. She was a member of 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 S ...
and the
Bayerische Staatsoper
The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester.
History
The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...
, known for singing Mozart roles such as
Blonde
Blond (male) or blonde (female), also referred to as fair hair, is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can ...
,
Susanna and
Zerlina. She appeared at European opera houses and festivals and was especially popular at 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 ...
, where she appeared for decades in opera and sacred concerts.
Life and career
Schwaiger was born in
Saalfelden
Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer is a town in the district of Zell am See District, Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg (state), Salzburg. With approximately 16,000 inhabitants, Saalfelden is the district's largest town and Salzburg (state)# ...
.
She received first music lessons with her father, an organist, and studied piano and voice at the
Mozarteum
Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...
in Salzburg. She made her debut at the
Salzburger Landestheater
The Salzburg State Theatre (''Salzburger Landestheater'') is a theatre situated in Salzburg, Austria, a venue for opera, theatre, and dance, contemporary and older works, with resident companies of actors, singers and dancers. The theatre presents ...
in 1940 as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''
Die Zauberflöte
''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 includ ...
''.
Schwaiger subsequently received engagements at the
Theater Basel
Theater Basel is the municipal theatre of the city of Basel, Switzerland, which is home to the city's opera and ballet companies. The theatre also presents plays and musicals in addition to operas and operettas.
Because the theatre does not ha ...
and in
Bregenz
Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...
. She worked at the
Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...
from 1942 and 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 S ...
from 1945 to 1952.
Major roles there included Susanna in Mozart's ''
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 ...
'', Zerlina in his ''
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 ...
'', 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 ...
'', Rosina in Rossini's ''
Il barbiere di Siviglia
''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an ''opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was base ...
'', Norina in Donizetti's ''
Don Pasquale
''Don Pasquale'' () is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's ...
'', Olympia in Offenbach's ''
Les contes d'Hoffmann
''The Tales of Hoffmann'' (French: ) is an by Jacques Offenbach. The French libretto was written by Jules Barbier, based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, who is the protagonist of the story. It was Offenbach's final work; he died ...
'', Gilda in Verdi's ''
Rigoletto
''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play ''Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had cont ...
'', and Ninetta in Prokofieff's ''
Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen''.
In 1952, artistic director engaged Schwaiger as first
coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills.
The term '' coloratura'' refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component o ...
for the
Bayerische Staatsoper
The Bayerische Staatsoper is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bayerische Staatsorchester.
History
The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...
and
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
The Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (''State Theatre at Gärtnerplatz''), commonly called the Gärtnerplatztheater, is an opera house and opera company in Munich. (The "Gärtnerplatz" is an urban square in the borough Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt.) ...
in Munich.
In those two theatres her partners included
Harry Friedauer
Harry Friedauer (7 July 1927 – 14 October 1985Elsewhere incorrectly given 1986 as the year of death and Munich as the place of death) was a German actor and operetta singer (tenor).
Life and career
Born in Karlsruhe, Friedauer was drafted at ...
,
Marianne Schech
Marianne Schech (18 January 1914 – 22 July 1999) was a German operatic soprano and academic who appeared internationally. She was a member of the Bavarian State Opera from 1946 to 1970. She is known for leading roles in works by Richard Wagner ...
,
Erika Köth
Erika Köth (15 September 1925 in Darmstadt – 20 February 1989 in Speyer) was a German operatic high coloratura soprano, particularly associated with the roles of Ariadne auf Naxos, Zerbinetta and Don Giovanni, Zerlina.
Köth began a musical ...
,
Martha Kunig-Rinach, and
Sári Barabás. She appeared as Papagena in a production of ''Die Zauberflöte'' in 1956, conducted by
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 ...
at the
Prinzregententheater
The Prinzregententheater, or, as it was called in its first decades, the Prinz-Regenten-Theater, in English the Prince Regent Theatre, is a concert hall and opera house on Prinzregentenplatz in the Bavarian capital of Munich, Germany.
Building ...
in Munich, and as Adina in Donizetti's ''
L'elisir d'amore
''L'elisir d'amore'' (''The Elixir of Love'', ) is a ' (opera buffa) in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto, after Eugène Scribe's libretto for Daniel Auber's ' (1831). The opera premiere ...
'' alongside
Benno Kusche
Benno Paul Kusche (30 January 1916 – 14 May 2010) was a German operatic baritone, who was praised as one of the best Mozart and Wagner singers, especially in character roles and opera buffa.
Career
Born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Kusche was th ...
in 1957.
Rosl Schwaiger
on Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
She performed regularly at 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 ...
and in opera and concerts of sacred music until 1965. In 1945, she appeared as Blonde in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail
' () ( K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's ''Belmont und Constanze, oder Die ...
'' and in 1946 as Barbarina in his ''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 ...
'' and as Sophie in ''Der Rosenkavalier
(''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...
'' by Richard Strauss. She performed at the Salzburg Cathedral
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, image = Salzburg Cathedral 1.jpg
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, landscape =
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, pushpin map ...
in Schubert's Mass in G major and Mozart's '' Vesperae solennes de confessore'' in 1954. She was one of the most popular singers at the Salzburg Festival during her time there.
Schwaiger also appeared in operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
, including Arsena in ''Der Zigeunerbaron
''The Gypsy Baron'' () is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II which premiered at the Theater an der Wien on 24 October 1885. Its German libretto by Ignaz Schnitzer is based on the unpublished 1883 story ''Saffi'' by Mór Jókai. Jok ...
'' by Johann Strauss. In 1952 she performed the leading role in the WDR production of the operetta ''The Geisha
''The Geisha, a story of a tea house'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and James ...
'' by Sidney Jones, directed by Franz Marszalek
Franz Marszalek (born 2 August 1900 in Breslau, Schlesien, Germany (now Wrocław, Silesia, Poland); died 28 October 1975 in Cologne, Germany) was a German conductor and composer, who was a leading figure in operetta. He began his studies in Wro ...
. In 1966 Schwaiger, who had been appointed a Bavarian Kammersänger
Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...
in, sang the role of Maria at the premiere of the ''Salzburger Passion'' by Cesar Bresgen
Cesar Bresgen (16 October 1913 – 7 April 1988) was an Austrian composer.
Biography
He was born in Florence to Maria and August Bresgen, both artists. He spent his childhood in Zell am See, Munich, Prague, and Salzburg.
From 1930 to 1936 ...
at the Großes Festspielhaus
The ''Großes Festspielhaus'' (Large Festival House), in its current form, was designed by architect Clemens Holzmeister in 1956 for the Salzburg Festival in
Austria. It was inaugurated on 26 July 1960 with a performance of Richard Strauss' ''D ...
in Salzburg.
In 1954 Schwaiger undertook a successful tour of North America. Three years later she sang at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.
History
Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...
as Blonde, Papagena, and Najade in ''Ariadne auf Naxos
(''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work' ...
'' by Richard Strauss. She gave lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
er recitals in Greece and Turkey in 1958.
Schwaiger died in Munich at age 51.
Recordings
Schwaiger recorded Barbarina in ''Figaro'' in 1956, conducted by Karl Böhm, alongside Paul Schöffler
Paul Schöffler (15 September 1897 – 21 November 1977) was a German operatic baritone, particularly associated with Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss roles.
Born in Dresden, he studied at the Music Conservatory there with Rudolf Schmalmauer and Wal ...
and Sena Jurinac
Srebrenka "Sena" Jurinac () (24 October 1921 – 22 November 2011) was a Bosnian-born Austrian operatic soprano.
Biography
Jurinac was born in Travnik, Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia), the daughter of a Croatia ...
, Walter Berry and Rita Streich
Rita Streich (18 December 192020 March 1987) was one of the most admired and recorded lyric coloratura sopranos of the post-war period.
Biography
Rita Streich was born in Barnaul, southern Siberia, in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Repu ...
.
References
External links
*
*
*
Rosl Schwaiger (Soprano)
Bach Cantatas Website
Rosl Schwaiger
on OperaLounge
Recordings with Rosl Schwaiger
on JPC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwaiger, Rosl
1918 births
1970 deaths
People from Saalfelden
Mozarteum University Salzburg alumni
Austrian operatic sopranos