Maria Wilhelmina Strandberg née Söhrling (6 November 1845 –16 October 1914) was a Swedish operatic

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 ...

who performed at the Royal Theatre in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

from 1867 to 1903, mainly in

soubrette A soubrette is a type of operatic soprano voice ''fach'', often cast as a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy". Theatre In theatre, a soubrette is a c ...

roles.

Biography

Born in Stockholm, Wilhelmina Söhling was the daughter of the music teacher and organist Wilhelm Söhrling (1822–1901) and Marie Elise Vretman. After being brought up in a musical family, she studied solo singing from 1862 to 1865 at the Swedish Conservatory under Julius Günther, Isak Berg and

Fredrika Stenhammar Fredrika Stenhammar (née Andrée; 19 September 1836 in Visby – 7 October 1880) was a Swedish opera singer (soprano). She was born as Fredrika Andrée to doctor Andreas Andrée and was sister of Sweden's first female organist, Elfrida Andrée. ...

. She made her début at the Royal Theatre on 18 October 1867 as Jeannette in

Nicolas Isouard Nicolas Isouard (also known as ''Nicolò'', ''Nicolò Isoiar'' or ''Nicolò de Malte''; 18 May 1773 – 23 March 1818) was a Maltese-born French composer. Biography Born in Porto Salvo, Valletta, Malta, Isouard studied in Rabat or Mdina with Fran ...

's comic opera ''Joconde''. In the spring of 1868, she was engaged by the Royal Theatre, playing further soubrette roles in comic operas including ''Vattendragaren'' and '' Les rendez-vous bourgeois''. She soon moved on to more classical roles such as Zerlina ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) 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 Spanis ...

'' and Cherubino in ''

The Marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premie ...

''. Other roles included Micaëla in ''

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 ...

'', Magdalena in the Swedish première of ''

Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (; "The Master-Singers of Nuremberg"), WWV 96, is a music drama, or opera, in three acts, by Richard Wagner. It is the longest opera commonly performed, taking nearly four and a half hours, not counting two breaks between acts, and is traditio ...

'', Marta in '' Faust'' and Pamina in ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

''. On 18 October 1892, when she appeared as the Marquise in '' La fille du régiment'', celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Royal Opera, she was awarded the

Litteris et Artibus Litteris et Artibus is a Swedish royal medal established in 1853 by Charles XV of Sweden, who was then crown prince. It is awarded to people who have made important contributions to culture, especially music, dramatic art and literature. The ob ...

medal. She retired from the Royal Opera on 6 November 1903. She continued to live in Stockholm where she died on 16 October 1914.

Personal life

In 1878, she married customs official Olof Strandberg (1847-1889), son of opera singer (tenor), Olof Strandberg (1816-1882) and actress Aurora Vilhelmina Strandberg.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strandberg, Wilhelmina 19th-century Swedish women opera singers Swedish operatic mezzo-sopranos 19th-century Swedish opera singers 1845 births 1914 deaths Singers from Stockholm Litteris et Artibus recipients