Hermine Küchenmeister-Rudersdorf (December 12, 1822February 26, 1882) was a Ukrainian composer, teacher and writer. She toured throughout Europe, then settled in America and died in Boston. Rudersdorf's father was the violinist Joseph Rudersdorff. She studied singing in Paris with

Marco Bordogni Giulio Marco Bordogni (23 January 1789 – 31 July 1856), usually called just Marco Bordogni, was an Italian operatic tenor and singing teacher of great popularity and success, whose mature career was based in Paris.Principal source: Joannes Rochu ...

and in Milan with de Micherout (also seen as de Micheroux). She was married twice: to Dr. Kuchenmeister, a professor of mathematics, and to Maurice Mansfield, a London wine merchant. She had four children: Greta, Felix, Henry and Richard.

Richard Mansfield Richard Mansfield (24 May 1857 – 30 August 1907) was an English actor-manager best known for his performances in Shakespeare plays, Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and the play '' Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde''. Life and career Mansfield was born ...

became a well-known actor. Rudersdorf debuted in Leipzig, Germany, when she was the soprano soloist in Felix Mendelssohn’s cantata ''Lobgesang'' on June 25, 1840. Her English debut was on May 23, 1854, at Covent Garden's Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, where she sang in several operas. She appeared at the Royal Italian Opera in 1855. In 1871 and 1872, Rudersdorf was engaged to sing at festivals in Boston, where she lived and taught until her death in 1882. Rudersdorf’s voice was considered very powerful, but not always beautiful. The “Rudersdorf method” she taught in her studio developed a strong head voice. Her students included Anna Drasdil, Isabel Fassett,

Carlotta Patti Carlotta Patti (c. 1840 – 27 June 1889) was a nineteenth-century Italian operatic soprano and older sister to famed soprano Adelina Patti. Various sources list her birth year as 1835, 1840, and 1842. Born Florence, Italy into a musical family, ...

, Mary Turner Salter, Fannie Lovering Skinner, and Emma Thursby. Teresa Carreno worked as Ruidersdorf’s studio accompanist in exchange for voice lessons. Rudersdorf's works were published by

Chappell & Co Chappell & Co. was an English company that published music and manufactured pianos. Founded by pianist Samuel Chappell, the company was one of the leading music publishers and piano manufacturers in Britain until 1980 when Chappell sold its reta ...

., G. D. Russell & Co., and G. Schirmer Inc. They included:

Cantata

*''Fridolin'' (music by

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook o ...

; libretto by Rudersdorf]

Essay

*''Einige Worte uber das Erlerner des Gesanges'' (A Few Words about Learning to Sing)

Songs

*"Homage to Columbia" *"Maying" (text by

Violet Fane Violet Fane is the literary pseudonym of Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie (''née'' Lamb, 24 February 1843 – 13 October 1905). A poet, a writer, and later an ambassadress, who was active in the British literary scene from 1872 until her death ...

) *"Rainy Day" (text by

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

) *"Shadow" (text by Adelaide A. Procter)

References

Sources

* ''Küchenmeister (Hermine) née Rudersdorff.'' In Carl Heinrich Herzel: ''Schlesisches Tonkünstler-Lexikon.'' 4 volume, Trewendt, Breslau 1846/1847, * Ludwig Eisenberg: ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert''.

Paul List Pawel M. List ( he, פאול ליסט, russian: Павел Лист; Odessa, 9 September 1887 – London? 1954) was a Russian Jewish chess player, who emigrated to Britain in 1937 but never took British citizenship. He was born in Odessa, Ukr ...

, Leipzig 1903, .

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:KuchenmeisterRudersdorf, Hermine 1822 births 1882 deaths Voice teachers Women composers Ukrainian women singers