Hortensia (Tenna) Kristine Sofie Erogine Kraft née Frederiksen (1885–1954) was a Danish operatic soprano. One of the Royal Danish Theatre's outstanding sopranos in the early 20th century, she sang in operas by

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

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 gained particular success in 1926 with the title role in

Siegfried Salomon Siegfried Salomon (3 August 1885 – 29 October 1962) was a Danish composer. Salomon was born in Copenhagen. In 1899 he entered the Conservatory in Leipzig and studied there for four years. He also spent some time in Paris studying with Pa ...

's Danish opera ''Leonora Christina'' which included the popular ''Der er tre hjørnestene''.

Biography

Born on 16 May 1885 in Copenhagen, Hortensia Kristine Sofie Erogine Frederiksen was the daughter of the house painter Christian Frederiksen (1859–1911) and Sophie Frederikke née Greisen (1859–1908). In 1927, she married the director of the Danish Petroleum Company Frederik Wilhelm Kraft (1879–1962). A talented singer as a child, she first studied in Copenhagen under Jens Larsen Nyrop and Osta Schottlænder before becoming a pupil of

Désirée Artôt Désirée Artôt (; 21 July 1835 – 3 April 1907) was a Belgian soprano (initially a mezzo-soprano), who was famed in German and Italian opera and sang mainly in Germany. In 1868 she was engaged, briefly, to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who may h ...

and

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 ...

in Paris. Tenna Frederiksen made her début at the Royal Danish Theatre on 4 April 1906 taking the role of Elsa in '' Lohengrin''. Thanks to her fine golden timbre and lyrical warmth, she became firmly established from the start, performing in a wide range of classical operas. Over the next 33 years, she played most of the well-known leading roles, including those in ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

'' and ''

La traviata ''La traviata'' (; ''The Fallen Woman'') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on ''La Dame aux camélias'' (1852), a play by Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' adapted from his own 18 ...

'', Tatyana in '' Eugene Onegin'', Desdemona in ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887. Th ...

'' and Elisabeth in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; gmh, Tanhûser), often stylized, "The Tannhäuser," was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1 ...

''. She was particularly popular in Danish works such as

Peter Heise Peter Heise (11 February 1830 – 12 September 1879) was a Danish composer, best known for the opera ''Drot og Marsk'' (''King and Marshal''). Heise's parents tried to press him into becoming a lawyer, but he scored highly in music at school, s ...

's ''

Drot og marsk ''Drot og marsk'' (''King and Marshal'') is an opera by the Danish composer Peter Heise. The libretto, by Christian Richardt, is based on Carsten Hauch's play ''Marsk Stig'' (1850). The opera was first performed at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, ...

'' and Siegfried Salomon's highly acclaimed ''Leonora Christina'' which was specially written for her. On her retirement from the stage in 1939, she was celebrated at a reception in the Hotel d'Angleterre with 200 guests in the presence of Prime Minister

Thorvald Stauning Thorvald August Marinus Stauning (; 26 October 1873 in Copenhagen – 3 May 1942) was the first social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark. He served as Prime Minister from 1924 to 1926 and again from 1929 until his death in 1942. Under Stauni ...

. Tenna Kraft died on 16 March 1954 in Copenhagen and is buried in

Vedbæk Vedbæk is a wealthy suburban neighbourhood on the coast north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It belongs to Rudersdal Municipality and has merged with the town of Hørsholm to the north. The area has been inhabited for at least 7,000 years, as evidenced ...

Awards

In 1914, she was honoured by

King Christian X Christian X ( da, Christian Carl Frederik Albert Alexander Vilhelm; 26 September 1870 – 20 April 1947) was King of Denmark from 1912 to his death in 1947, and the only King of Iceland as Kristján X, in the form of a personal union rather ...

as a Kongelig kammersangerinde or Royal Chamber Singer while in 1922 she received the Ingenio et Arti. In 1932, she was awarded the

Tagea Brandt Rejselegat The Tagea Brandts ''Rejselegat'' (Travel Scholarship) is a Danish award to women who have made a significant contribution in science, literature or art. The grant, which is given without application, was created and endowed by Danish industrialist ...

, an honour reserved for outstanding women.

References

External links

"Tenna Kraft. The Danish Soprano of the 20th Century" from Musicweb
with extensive reviews by Michael Cookson and Jonathan Woolf {{DEFAULTSORT:Kraft, Tenna 1885 births 1954 deaths Actresses from Copenhagen Danish operatic sopranos Recipients of Ingenio et Arti