Signe Rappe-Welden née Rappe (24 September 1879 – 21 May 1974) was a Swedish

operatic 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 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

and voice teacher. She made her dëbut in 1906 in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, acclaimed for both her voice and acting ability. She performed in Vienna from 1908 to 1911 and received the title of court singer in Sweden in 1909. Her most successful role was that of ''

Salome Salome (; , related to , "peace"; ), also known as Salome III, was a Jews, Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II and princess Herodias. She was granddaughter of Herod the Great and stepdaughter of Herod Antipas. She is known from the New T ...

'' in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

in 1910, which she later performed with

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

as conductor. After a short period with the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

(1912–1913), she went on to give concerts in Europe and the United States.

Early life and education

Born in Stockholm on 24 September 1879, Signe Rappe was the daughter of General

Axel Rappe ''Friherre'' General Axel Emil Rappe (2 October 1838 – 18 December 1918) was a Swedish Army officer and Minister of War from 1892 and 1899. Early life Rappe was born on 2 October 1838 in Christinelund manor in Arby, Kalmar County, the son of ...

(1838–1918) and his wife Anna née Sandahl (1855–1946). She was the second in a family of five children. On 30 December 1912, she married the pianist Sigge Heribert Lundén-Welden (1880–1959) with whom she had four children. She studied voice under the Swedish opera singer Thekla Hofer and later in Berlin under the German

Therese Schnabel Therese Behr-Schnabel (''née'' Behr; 14 September 1876 – 30 January 1959) was a German contralto. She was best known for her interpretations of lieder. Life Therese Behr was born to interior designer Carl Behr and his wife Lina Behr (née Zen ...

and the Hungarian

Etelka Gerster Etelka Gerster (25 June 1855, Košice20 August 1920, Pontecchio) was a Hungarian soprano. She studied with Mathilde Marchesi at the Vienna Conservatory, and made her debut at the La Fenice in Venice with great success as Gilda in Verdi's ''Rigo ...

Career

Rappe-Welden's Swedish début was at a concert performance in

Jönköping Jönköping (, ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in southern Sweden with 112,766 inhabitants (2022). Jönköping is situated on the southern shore of Sweden's second largest lake, Vättern, in the province of Småland. The city is the seat o ...

in 1902 as Delila in

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's ''

Samson SAMSON (Software for Adaptive Modeling and Simulation Of Nanosystems) is a computer software platform for molecular design being developed bOneAngstromand previously by the NANO-D group at the French Institute for Research in Computer Science an ...

''. She went on to perform in concerts in Copenhagen, including the soprano parts from

Mendelsohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonies ...

's ''

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

''. Her operatic début was in 1906 in

where she appeared periodically from 1906 to 1908. She then performed as a guest in Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart, Wiesbaden and Strasbourg. She was engaged by the

Vienna Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by A ...

from 1908 to 1911 and by the

from 1912 to 1913. She appeared as a guest in London at Covent Garden and at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genre ...

, at the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera ( ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be kn ...

, and in New York and Chicago. She also went on tour in Sweden and Norway. Among her successful roles were Salome, Elisabeth and Venus in ''

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

'', Elisa in ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...

'', Senta in ''

The Flying Dutchman The ''Flying Dutchman'' () is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the sea forever. The myths and ghost stories are likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dutch East India C ...

'', Eva in ''

The Master Singers The Master Singers were a British vocal group in the 1960s. Comprising four schoolmasters, they specialised in comedic recordings of mundane documents and announcements such as the radio weather forecast and ''the Highway Code'', performed '' ...

'', Rezia in ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

'', Aida, Desdemona in ''

Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...

'' and Marguerite in ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

''. As a concert performer, she was particularly fond of singing music by

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

. She completed her career by teaching voice in Stockholm. Signe Rappe-Welden died on 21 May 1974 in

Danderyd Danderyd Municipality (; ) is a municipality north of Stockholm in Stockholm County in east central Sweden. It is one of the smallest municipalities of Sweden, but the most affluent. Its seat is located in Djursholm and it is located within Sto ...

Awards

In 1909, Rappe-Welden received the title of Hovsångerska (court singer) and in 1914 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rappe-Welden, Signe 1879 births 1974 deaths Musicians from Stockholm Swedish operatic sopranos Voice teachers Litteris et Artibus recipients