Raquel Rastenni (21 August 1915 – 17 August 1998), born Anna Rachel Rastén, was a popular

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

singer. She was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, and grew up in an apartment in the poor part of the city. Her Jewish parents immigrated to Denmark from Russia at the start of the 20th century. Her father was a tailor, and her mother was a seamstress. She started her career as a dancer in the

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

Revue in 1936. She debuted as a singer in 1938 by being broadcast on radio. She sang with various orchestras through the early 1940s and in 1940 formed her own swing trio. That same year her first record was released. She also toured during these years in Sweden. As a

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

, she fled Denmark in October 1943 along with her family, as the country had come under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

. She spent the rest of the war years in Sweden where she continued having great success with her career, performing with orchestras and in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

s and

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. Her jazz singing style has been compared to that of

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

. She returned to Denmark in 1945 and became Denmark's leading female

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

singer. Among her successes were ''Vovsen i vinduet'' ("

(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window? "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" is a popular novelty song. It was written by Bob Merrill and first registered on September 25, 1952, as "The Doggie in the Window". On January 27, 1953, its sheet music was published in New York as "(H ...

") in 1953 and ''Heksedansen'' ("The Witch Dance") in 1960. Her best-selling song was ''Hele ugen alene'' ("Seven lonely days") in 1953, which sold over 120,000 copies. She was the first artist in Denmark to earn a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. In addition to her

Danish language Danish (; , ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are also found in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the northern German region of Southern Schle ...

recordings, she recorded also in

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. After qualifying in the

Dansk Melodi Grand Prix Dansk Melodi Grand Prix (), also known as Melodi Grand Prix or simply DMGP, is an annual music competition organised by the Danish public broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) since 1957, which determines the for the Eurovision Song Contest. The fes ...

to represent Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest, she participated in

Eurovision Song Contest 1958 The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 was the third edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NTS), the contest, originally known as the (English: Grand Prix of the Eu ...

, where she san
Jeg rev et blad ud af min Dagbog
(''I Tore A Page Out Of My Diary''). She ranked number 8. She participated once more in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix, singing a duet with

Grethe Sønck Grethe Sønck (16 July 1929 – 12 February 2010)Grethe Sønck er død
was a

entitled ''Hjemme hos os'' ("At our home"). In the late 1980s she retired from public life. She died in Skodsborg in the northern part of

Sjælland Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...

four days before her 83rd birthday.

References

*Laursen, Carsten Michael (1999). 'Top-Pop: Navne i dansk pop 1950-2000''"' ("Top-Pop: Names in Danish Pop 1950-2000"). L&R Fakta. .

External links

*
''Det Virtuelle Musikbibliotek'' (The Virtual Music Library) article on Raquel Rastenni, in English, with photo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rastenni, Raquel 1915 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Danish male singers Eurovision Song Contest entrants for Denmark Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1958 Danish Ashkenazi Jews Danish people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish singers Musicians from Copenhagen Sonet Records artists Yiddish-language singers Hebrew-language singers