Cahier, Mme Charles (Sara) - helfigur med signatur - AF

Sara Charles-Cahier or Madame Charles Cahier (born Sara Layton Walker; 8 January 187015 April 1951) was an American-born Swedish

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typically b ...

singer in

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 librett ...

and

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, singing primarily in Europe. The American-born Cahier later acquired Swedish citizenship. She was associated with

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, and was one of the soloists in the posthumous premiere of his ''

Das Lied von der Erde ''Das Lied von der Erde'' ("The Song of the Earth") is an orchestral song cycle for two voices and orchestra written by Gustav Mahler between 1908 and 1909. Described as a symphony when published, it comprises six songs for two singers who alte ...

'' in 1911. She sang at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in New York, and was a teacher at the

Curtis Institute of Music The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. Hi ...

in Philadelphia. Her students included

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to Spiritual (music), spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throu ...

Career

She was born as Sara Layton Walker in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

."Mme. Sara Cahier"
''

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue o ...

'', 16 April 1951. Retrieved 1 August 2014 She studied in Indianapolis and in Paris under

Jean de Reszke Jean de Reszke (14 January 18503 April 1925) was a Polish tenor and opera star. Reszke came from a musically inclined family. His mother gave him his first singing lessons and provided a home that was a recognized music centre. His sister Josep ...

, and in 1904 she made her debut as the character Orpheus in ''

Orpheus and Eurydice The ancient legend of Orpheus and Eurydice (, ''Orpheus, Eurydikē'') concerns the fateful love of Orpheus of Thrace for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Apollo and the muse Calliope. It may be a late addition to the Orpheus myths ...

'' in

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. Other teachers included

Gustav Walter Gustav Walter (11 February 1834, Bílina, Bohemia – 31 January 1910, Vienna) was a German (from Bohemia) operatic tenor who sang leading roles for more than 30 years at the Vienna Staatsoper in Austria. He was a highly regarded interpreter o ...

,Google groups
Retrieved 1 August 2014.

Victor Capoul Joseph Victor Amédée Capoul (27 February 1839 – 18 February 1924) was a French operatic lyric tenor with a graceful singing style. Forbes E., Steane J.B., "Victor Capoul". In: ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera.'' Macmillan, London and N ...

and

Amalie Joachim Amalie Marie Joachim (née Schneeweiss; 10 May 1839 – 3 February 1899) was an Austrian-German contralto, working in opera and concert and as voice teacher. She was the wife of the violinist Joseph Joachim, and a friend of Clara Schumann and Joh ...

. Her second husband was Swedish impresario Charles Cahier, in 1905. After this, she was generally billed as "Madame Charles Cahier", or "Sara Charles-Cahier".Encyclopedia.com
Retrieved 1 August 2014. She was active in Vienna, joining the Hofoper in 1907, and Munich, often singing under

's directorship in roles such as

Amneris ''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 December 1 ...

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

Delilah Delilah ( ; , meaning "delicate";Gesenius's ''Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon'' ar, دليلة, Dalīlah; grc, label=Greek, Δαλιδά, Dalidá) is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved b ...

, Fidès, Ortrud, and Santuzza. Cahier and fellow American William Miller, a tenor, were chosen by

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 ...

to premiere Mahler's ''

'' in Munich posthumously in November 1911. She also sang in the New York premiere of the work in 1922, with tenor

Orville Harrold Orville Harrold (17 November 1877 – 23 October 1933) was an American operatic tenor and musical theatre actor. He began his career in 1906 as a performer in operettas in New York City, and was also seen during his early career in cabare ...

, under conductor

Artur Bodanzky Artur Bodanzky (also written as Artur Bodzansky) (16 December 1877 – 23 November 1939) was an Austrian-American conductor particularly associated with the operas of Wagner. He conducted Enrico Caruso's last performance at the Metropolitan Oper ...

. She sang in France, Italy, England and Germany. Other noted conductors under whom she sang included

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

and

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...

. She sang at the

in New York from 1912 to 1914, making her debut there as Azucena in ''

Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

''. Other appearances there included Fricka in ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), WWV 86B, is the second of the four music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was performed, as a single opera, at the National Theatre Munich on ...

'', alongside

Olive Fremstad Olive Fremstad (14 March 1871 – 21 April 1951) was the stage name of Anna Olivia Rundquist, a celebrated Swedish-American opera diva who sang in both the mezzo-soprano and soprano ranges.Rosenthal and Warrack (1979) p. 180 Background Born ...

and

Margaret Matzenauer Margaret Matzenauer (sometimes spelled Margarete Matzenauer or Margarethe Matzenaur) (1 June 1881 – 19 May 1963) was an Austria-Hungary-born, later resident in the United States, mezzo-soprano. She had an opulent timbre and wide range. S ...

. She enjoyed great success in Stockholm from 1915 to 1917, during which time she acquired Swedish citizenship. After retirement, she became a teacher and vocal coach, at the

in Philadelphia. Her students, there and elsewhere, included

Göta Ljungberg Göta Ljungberg (4 October 1893 – 28 June 1955) was a major Swedish Wagnerian soprano of the 1920s who sang throughout American and Europe and left an important recorded legacy. Biography Born in Sundsvall, she studied at the Stockholm Opera Sc ...

and

Rosette Anday Piroska Anday (12 December 1899, in Budapest – 22 December 1977, in Vienna) 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 and a hit ...

. It was on her advice that

Lauritz Melchior Lauritz Melchior (20 March 1890 – 18 March 1973) was a Danish-American opera singer. He was the preeminent Wagnerian tenor of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s and has come to be considered the quintessence of his voice type. Late in his career, Me ...

changed from

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

heldentenor A heldentenor (; English: ''heroic tenor''), earlier called tenorbariton, is an operatic tenor voice, most often associated with Wagnerian repertoire. It is distinct from other tenor ''fächer'' by its endurance, volume, and dark timbre, which ...

. Sara Cahier died in

Manhattan Beach, California Manhattan Beach is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast south of El Segundo, California, El Segundo, west of Hawthorne, California, Hawthorne and Redondo Beach, California, Red ...

, in April 1951, aged 81.

Recordings

Her recordings were few, but include: * "Urlicht", from Mahler's Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection" and "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen", from his ''

Rückert-Lieder ' (Songs after Rückert) is a collection of five Lieder for voice and orchestra or piano by Gustav Mahler, based on poems written by Friedrich Rückert. The songs were first published in ''Sieben Lieder aus letzter Zeit'' (''Seven Songs of Latter ...

'' * Excerpts from ''

''Vienna: The Mahler Years 1897–1907, CD Universe
Retrieved 1 August 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cahier, Sara 1870 births 1951 deaths Singers from Nashville, Tennessee American operatic mezzo-sopranos American operatic contraltos Swedish operatic mezzo-sopranos Swedish contraltos 19th-century Swedish women opera singers Curtis Institute of Music faculty Women music educators 19th-century American women opera singers