Annetta Grodner
Encyclopedia
Annetta Grodner was a Ukrainian
Jewish singer and actress, the first prima donna
in Yiddish theater.
The daughter of a bootmaker in Kremenchuk
, Ukraine
, she met and married Israel Grodner
some time around 1870, when he passed through Kremenchuk in the course of his wanderings as a young Broder singer
. Her husband was recruited by Abraham Goldfaden
as the first professional Yiddish-language stage actor, but initially Yiddish theater was an entirely male affair. The gender barrier was broken by the teenaged Sara Segal, later famous under the name Sophie Karp. However, Annetta Grodner was the first to play prima donna roles.
Jacob Adler
wrote that she was "an actress with the seventh degree of charm" and that her singing voice was "not strong, but melodious—a voice 'with tears in it.' There was always something sweetly sad in her singing—even her gay songs tore at your heart."
Annetta Grodner shared many (though not all) of her husband's wanderings through Europe until his early death in London
in 1887.
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
Jewish singer and actress, the first prima donna
Prima donna
Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...
in Yiddish theater.
The daughter of a bootmaker in Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk
Kremenchuk is an important industrial city in the Poltava Oblast of central Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kremenchutskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast, and is located on the banks of Dnieper River.-History:Kremenchuk was...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, she met and married Israel Grodner
Israel Grodner
Israel Grodner was one of the founding performers in Yiddish theater. A Lithuanian Jew who moved at the age of 16 to Berdichev, Ukraine, Russian Empire, the Broder singer and actor was in Iaşi, Romania in 1876 when Abraham Goldfaden recruited him as the first actor for what became the first...
some time around 1870, when he passed through Kremenchuk in the course of his wanderings as a young Broder singer
Broder singer
The Brodersänger or Broder singers, from Brody in Ukraine, were Jewish itinerant performers in Austrian Galicia, Romania, and Russia, professional or semiprofessional songwriters and performers, who from at least the early 19th century sang and danced, often in comic disguises, and who performed...
. Her husband was recruited by Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden
Abraham Goldfaden ; was an Russian-born Jewish poet, playwright, stage director and actor in the languages Yiddish and Hebrew, author of some 40 plays.Goldfaden is considered the father of the Jewish modern theatre.In 1876 he founded in...
as the first professional Yiddish-language stage actor, but initially Yiddish theater was an entirely male affair. The gender barrier was broken by the teenaged Sara Segal, later famous under the name Sophie Karp. However, Annetta Grodner was the first to play prima donna roles.
Jacob Adler
Jacob Pavlovich Adler
Jacob Pavlovich Adler , born Yankev P. Adler, was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and New York City....
wrote that she was "an actress with the seventh degree of charm" and that her singing voice was "not strong, but melodious—a voice 'with tears in it.' There was always something sweetly sad in her singing—even her gay songs tore at your heart."
Annetta Grodner shared many (though not all) of her husband's wanderings through Europe until his early death in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1887.