Zdenka Rubinstein (born Büchler; 19 November 1911 – 31 July 1961) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female 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 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Early life, family and death

Rubinstein was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

on 19 November 1911. In 1933 she married Bartold Rubinstein at the Osijek Synagogue. Her husband's

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

family believed it unacceptable that their daughter-in-law performed in theatres. In 1934 her daughter Mira Rubinstein was born. In an attempt to save and protect his family from antisemitism and persecution, Bartold Rubinstein converted his family to Catholicism. In 1941, during World War II, the

NDH The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It was established in p ...

began to implement race laws that prevented Rubinstein from singing and performing. She was expelled and banned from the

Croatian National Theatre in Osijek The Croatian National Theatre ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Osijeku) is a theatre building in Osijek, capital of the Croatian region of Slavonia. Opened in 1866, and the building was expanded and fully completed in 1907 according to the p ...

, and her family was evicted from their apartment in the center of Osijek. Many members of her family were murdered during

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

; Rubinstein and her immediate family barely survived. After the war her husband was designated minister of architecture of the newly founded

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

, but on the journey from Zagreb to Osijek (which took several days because of destroyed railroads) he was infected with typhus, and he died some days later. Rubinstein's daughter Mira died in childbirth in Zagreb, and her child died with her. Devastated by these losses, Rubinstein stopped performing. She became ill with Parkinson's disease, and in 1961 she killed herself with an overdose of sleeping pills. She was buried in the family tomb with her husband Bartold in the Jewish part of the cemetery Sv. Ana, Osijek. Menora (Glasilo Židovske općine Osijek); Miroslava Mihaljević; Sjećanje na Zdenku Rubinstein, prvakinju osječke opere; stranica 11, 12; broj 8 i 9, travanj 2011.

Education and career

Rubinstein completed elementary and high school in Zagreb and graduated from the

University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

. Before World War II, because of the views of her husband's family, she performed rarely at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek. From 1945 until her death she performed as a lyric soprano at the Croatian National Theatre in Osijek. Among her major roles were Violetta in Verdi's ''

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 ...

'', Cio-Cio San in Puccini's ''

Madama Butterfly ''Madama Butterfly'' (; ''Madame Butterfly'') is an opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther ...

'' and Bula in ''

Ero s onoga svijeta ''Ero s onoga svijeta'' (usually translated as ''Ero the Joker'', literally ''Ero from the other world'') is a comic opera in three acts by Jakov Gotovac, with a libretto by Milan Begović based on a folk tale. The genesis of the opera was at V ...

'' by

Jakov Gotovac Jakov Gotovac (11 October 189516 October 1982) was a Croatian composer and conductor of classical music. His comic opera, ''Ero s onoga svijeta'' (''Ero the Joker''), Croatia's best-known opera, was first performed in Zagreb in 1935. Biograph ...

. Her repertoire was wide and demanding. Rubinstein was noted for her powerful voice.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubinstein, Zdenka 1911 births 1961 suicides 1961 deaths Musicians from Zagreb Croatian people of Jewish descent Croatian Roman Catholics Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian operatic sopranos Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Drug-related suicides in Croatia 20th-century Croatian women opera singers Burials at Saint Anne Cemetery People with Parkinson's disease Jewish opera singers