Therese Barbara Alberta Teyber ( bap. 15 October 1760 – 15 April 1830) was an Austrian

operatic Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Life

Education

Therese was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to Matthäus

Teyber Teyber is a surname. The most prominent people with the surname were an Austrian family of musicians. They also spelled their name many different ways, including ''Deiber'', ''Taiber'', ''Taube'', ''Tauber'', ''Täuber'', ''Tayber'', ''Teiber'', an ...

and Theresia Riedl. The composer

Giuseppe Bonno Giuseppe Bonno (29 January 1711 – 15 April 1788) Michael Lorenz gives his first name as "Joseph" because Emperor Joseph I was his godfather; Lorenz also asserts that Bonno was born on 30 JanuaryHaydn Singing at Vivaldi's Exequies: An Ineradic ...

was witness to her parents' marriage and may have been Therese's childhood music instructor. The

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

Vittoria Tesi Vittoria Tesi Tramontini, also known as "La Fiorentina" or "La Moretta" (the Florentine or the Moorish or brunette girl) (13 February 1701 in Florence – 9 May 1775 in Vienna) was an Italian opera singer (later singing teacher) of the 18th cen ...

and the composer

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...

may also have been her teachers. From 1773, the Teyber and Mozart families were closely connected.

Career

In September of 1778, Therese made her debut as Fiametta in Maximilian Ulbrich's ''Frühling und Liebe''. The premiere production was with the Nationalsingspiel in the Vienna

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

, of whose Italian opera company she was a member from 1783–5. During her tenure, Therese also performed in concerts for the

Tonkünstler-Societät The Tonkünstler-Societät ("Society of Musicians") was a benevolent society for musicians in Vienna, which lasted from the mid-18th century to the mid-20th. Its purpose was "to support retired musicians and their families". Beginning in 1772, the ...

. Her final appearance was in March 1784 as Sara in

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's '' Il ritorno di Tobia''. Therese created the role of Blonde in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, 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 . The plot concer ...

'' (1782). The following year, the composer had planned for Therese to premiere the role of Metilde in ''

Lo sposo deluso Lo may refer to any of the following: Arts and entertainment * Comic LO, a Japanese ''lolicon''-focused erotic manga magazine * '' Lo!'', the third published nonfiction work of the author Charles Fort * L.O., a fictional character in the Playho ...

'', but the opera with never completed. On 23 March 1783, Therese sang 'Parto, m'affretto' from ''

Lucio Silla ''Lucio Silla'' (), K. 135, is an Italian opera seria in three acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the age of 16. The libretto was written by Giovanni de Gamerra, revised by Pietro Metastasio. It was first performed on 26 December 1772 ...

'' in Mozart's benefit concert at the Burgtheater. Mozart reciprocated by performing the following week in Therese's Burgtheater concert. Both concerts were attended by

the Emperor ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The' ...

. Therese Teyber was largely popular as an actress and singer, though she was compensated far less than her other female counterparts, like

Nancy Storace Anna (or Ann) Selina Storace (; 27 October 176524 August 1817), known professionally as Nancy Storace, was an English operatic soprano. The role of Susanna in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart's ''The Marriage of Figaro, Le nozze di Figaro'' was w ...

. She performed both

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

e and operas, many of which were produced at the Kärntnertortheater where she was a member of the German opera company from 1785–91. In addition to those of Mozart, Teyber was featured in the operas of

Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarc ...

, Umlauf,

Gluck Christoph Willibald ( Ritter von) Gluck (; ; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire at ...

Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born in ...

, and others. In 1786, Therese married the tenor Philipp Ferdinand Arnold, with whom she had sung in ''Frühling und Liebe'' eight years prior. Together, Therese and Ferdinand toured

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and the

Baltic region The Baltic Sea Region, alternatively the Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states, refers to the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, including parts of Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. Un ...

in concert. For a number of the final performances of ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full 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 Spanish legen ...

'' in Vienna in 1788, Therese probably replaced Luisa Laschi as Zerlina.

Family

Therese's father, Matthäus, was a

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists * List of contemporary classical violinists * List of jazz violinists * List of popular music violinists * List of Indian violinists * List of Persian violinists * Li ...

. He served in the chapel of Elisabeth Christine, the widow of Charles VI. Later, he worked as a theater and

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

musician. Therese's older sister, Elisabeth, was also an operatic soprano. Their brothers Anton and Franz were both musicians, composers, and ''

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

s''. Anton's daughter Elena had a modest career as a performer and composer. In 1827, she married the Moldavian composer

Gheorghe Asachi Gheorghe Asachi (, surname also spelled Asaki; 1 March 1788 – 12 November 1869) was a Moldavian, later Romanian, prose writer, poet, painter, historian, dramatist, engineer, border maker, and translator. An Enlightenment-educated polymath and ...

. Gheorghe adopted Elena's children from her first marriage, including her daughter,

Hermione Hermione most commonly refers to: * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name * Hermione Granger, a character in ''Harry Potter'' Hermi ...

. Therese has been confused with Maria Anna Tauber, to whom she is not related. The two sopranos performed together in Ulbrich's ''Frühling und Liebe'' in 1778.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teyber, Therese 1760 births 1830 deaths 18th-century Austrian women opera singers Austrian sopranos Women singers from the Austrian Empire