Mariane Theresia ''Sophie'' (Maria Sofia) Stebnowska also called Zofia Stępkowska or ''Stempkosta'' (13 July 1753 or 1761 – 16 February 1848) was a Swedish opera singer and harpist of
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
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*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
origin. She has been referred to as one of the more notable stage artists of the
Gustavian era
The History of Sweden from 1772 through 1809 is better known as the Gustavian era of Kings Gustav III and Gustav IV, as well as the reign of King Charles XIII of Sweden.
Gustav III
Adolf Frederick of Sweden died on 12 February 1771. The ele ...
Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Location and environment
The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...
. She was the maternal grandmother of the famous
ballerina
A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...
Marie Taglioni
Marie Taglioni, Comtesse de Voisins (23 April 1804 – 22 April 1884) was a Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era partially of Italian descent, a central figure in the history of European dance. She spent most of her life in th ...
.
Life and career
Sophie Stebnowska reportedly arrived to Sweden from
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in France in the company of the British ambassador to Sweden, Sir
Thomas Wroughton
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, previously ambassador to Poland, with whom she was in a relationship at the time.
[Forsstrand, Carl, Sophie Hagman och hennes samtida: några anteckningar från det gustavianska Stockholm Sophie Hagman and her contemporaries. Notes from Stockholm during the Gustavian age' Wahlström & Widstrand, Stockholm, 1911] This would have been in 1778, when Sir Thomas Wroughton left his ambassadorship in Poland for the same office in Sweden.
She married the Swedish opera singer
Christoffer Christian Karsten
Christoffer Christian (or ''Kristofer Kristian'') Karsten (9 September 1756 – 6 August 1827) was a Swedish opera singer. He was the maternal grandfather of the ballerina Marie Taglioni.
Life
Born in Ystad, he was discovered by queen ...
in 1781, and became the mother of the ballet dancer
Sophie Karsten
Hedvig Sophie Karsten (3 September 1783 – 25 February 1862) was a Swedish ballerina and artist (painter).
Born to opera singers Christoffer Christian Karsten and Sophie Stebnowska, she was the sister of painter Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten.
S ...
and the painter
Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten
Elisabeth Charlotta Karsten, married surname ''Kachanoff'' (1789–1856), was a Swedish painter.
She was born in Stockholm, the daughter of Kristofer Kristian Karsten and Sophie Stebnowska and sister of Sophie Karsten. She was the student of ...
. At their wedding, they were granted the use of the Villa Canton at
Drottningholm
Drottningholm, literally "Queen's Islet", is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality situated in Ekerö Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden, with 398 inhabitants in 2010.
It is on the island Lovön in lake Mälaren on the outskirts of Stockholm. Dro ...
by king
Gustav III of Sweden
Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia.
Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...
. The couple enjoyed an active social life in the circles of the artistic world of Stockholm and also frequented the circles around the royal court.
Sophie Stebnowska was engaged at the
Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Location and environment
The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...
in December 1782 and given a contract for life as a premier actress on 25 February 1790. She was regarded to belong to the elite artists of the opera. She made her last appearance on the state in 1803, and retired from the opera in 1806.
Stebnowska was also an acknowledged harpist. In March 1795, she participated in a concert in the
Stockholm Stock Exchange Building
The Stock Exchange Building () is a building originally erected for the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 1773 and 1778 from construction drawings by Erik Palmstedt. The stock exchange moved out of the building completely in 1998. It is located on t ...
with her spouse and
Marie Louise Marcadet
Marie Louise Marcadet née ''Baptiste'' (3 December 1758 – 28 February 1804) was a Swedish opera singer and a dramatic stage actress of French origin. She was active in the Royal Swedish Opera as a singer, and in the Royal Dramatic Theatre ...
, where each of them first performed alone, after which she accompanied the duet singing of her husband and Marcadet by playing the harp.
[Jonsson, Leif & Ivarsdotter, Anna (red.), Musiken i Sverige. 2, Frihetstid och gustaviansk tid 1720-1810, Fischer, Stockholm, 1993 (Music in Sweden. The age of Liberty and the Gustavian age 1720–1810) ]
Sophie Stebnowska Karsten died at Drottningholm in 1848, aged 95.
Legacy
Gustav Löwenhielm
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
* Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short car ...
mentioned her importance in Swedish theater and opera history in the 19th century, during a discussion about the employment of foreign artists, when he pointed out that several of the artists during the foundation of the Royal Swedish Opera and the Royal Dramatic Theatre had been foreigners:
"Is it impossible to engage Mr Berg and Miss Schoultz? - Generally, I can not see how we can elude the employment of half grown foreigners. Gustav III's ''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 ...
'' national theatre started with the ''Danish
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* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
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'' Mrs Müller, the '' French'' Mrs Marcadet, the ''German
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**Ger ...
'' Mamsell Stading, the ''German'' Mrs Augusti and the ''Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
'' Mrs Karsten. These ladies occupied our stage and kept it from the foundation of the opera and the premature departure of Mrs Olin in the beginning of the 1780s, until the year of 1800, when the school of Mrs Desguillons had created Mamsell Wässelia cum celeris."[Nordensvan, Georg, Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Förra delen, 1772-1842 Bonnier, Stockholm, 1917 ]
References
* Nordensvan, Georg (1917). Svensk teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra dagar. Förra delen, 1772–1842. Stockholm: Bonnier. Libris 8073965
* Swedish musical historical bullentin
Finska anor inom furstehus (Finnish descendenc within Emprial houses) Osmo Durchman
notes on Swedish women
* Dahl Torsten, Bohman Nils, red (1954). Svenska män och kvinnor: biografisk uppslagsbok. 4. Stockholm: Bonnier.
* Jonsson, Leif & Ivarsdotter, Anna (red.), Musiken i Sverige. 2, Frihetstid och gustaviansk tid 1720–1810, Fischer, Stockholm, 1993 (Music in Sweden. The age of Liberty and the Gustavian age 1720–1810)
Arvid Ahnfelt, Europas konstnärer (1887) The artists of Europe (Swedish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stebnowska, Sophie
1753 births
1848 deaths
Swedish harpists
Polish emigrants to Sweden
18th-century Swedish women opera singers
Gustavian era people
19th-century Swedish women opera singers