Mizzi Günther (8 February 1879 – 18 March 1961) was a Bohemian-Viennese

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

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 ...

. Günther was born in Warnsdorf,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

(now the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

). Her debut was in 1897 in Hermannstadt, now

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, the part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

now in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. She achieved stardom 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. ...

in 1901 as O Mimosa San in ''

The Geisha ''The Geisha, a story of a tea house'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts. The score was composed by Sidney Jones to a libretto by Owen Hall, with lyrics by Harry Greenbank. Additional songs were written by Lionel Monckton and Jame ...

''. She subsequently sang in England, France and Russia. She created the title roles of

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life and career L ...

's ''

The Merry Widow ''The Merry Widow'' ( ) is an operetta by the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The Libretto, librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's ...

'' in 1905 and

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who sett ...

's ''

Die Dollarprinzessin ' is an operetta by Leo Fall. The German libretto was by Alfred Maria Willner and Fritz Grünbaum after the comedy by Emerich von Gatti and Thilo Friedrich Wilhelm von Trotha. Performance history It was first performed at the Theater an der Wi ...

'' (1907), also appearing in the premieres of Fall's ' (1908) and

Emmerich Kálmán Emmerich Kálmán ( ; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Operetta#Austria–Hungary, Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most p ...

's ''Der kleine König'' (1912) and ''

Die Csárdásfürstin ' ( or ; ''The Csárdás Princess''; translated into English as ''The Riviera Girl'' and ''The Gipsy Princess'') is an operetta in 3 acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán, with libretto by Leo Stein and Bela Jenbach. It premiered in Vienna ...

'' (1915). She died in Vienna, Austria, and is buried on the

Zentralfriedhof The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's biggest cemet ...

Recordings

From 1903 to 1911, Günther recorded ten 78 rpm sides of music from ''The Merry Widow'',

Heinrich Reinhardt Enrique Alfredo Kurt (born Heinrich Alfred Kurt) Reinhardt (29 March 1903, Stettin,Zabelsdorf, according tPassengers of the Piriápolis/ref> German Empire – 14 June 1990, Ciudad Jardín Lomas del Palomar, Argentina) was a German–Argentine ch ...

's ''Der liebe Schatz'', Leo Ascher's ''Vergeltsgott'' and

's '.

Sources

* Steane, J. B. (1992), "Günther, Mizzi" in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes. The dictionary was first published in 1992 by Macmillan Reference, L ...

'', ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...

(London)

External links

* *
Mizzi Günther
at Operetta Research Center * *, 1906, first recording {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther, Mizzi 1879 births 1961 deaths People from Varnsdorf Austrian operatic sopranos Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Austrian people of German Bohemian descent 19th-century Austrian women opera singers 20th-century Austrian women opera singers Singers from Austria-Hungary