Margarete Matzenauer
Encyclopedia
Margaret Matzenauer (1 June 1881, Temesvár
, Austria-Hungary
(now Timişoara
, Romania
) — 19 May 1963, Van Nuys, California
) was a mezzo-soprano singer with an opulent timbre and a wide range to her voice. She performed key works from both the Italian and German opera
tic repertoires in Europe and the United States.
region of Hungary, her father Ludwig was a conductor; her mother an opera singer. She considered herself Hungarian although she had Germanic blood and the place of her birth is now in western Romania.
She studied opera in Graz
and Berlin, making her operatic debut in 1901 as "Puck" in Weber
's Oberon
. She began singing major roles such as Azucena in Il trovatore
, Carmen
, Mignon
, Waltraute and Erda in the Ring operas
and Ortrud in Lohengrin
. She first achieved fame in Europe as a contralto and mezzo-soprano, and she was engaged to appear at the 1911 Bayreuth Festival
. She was tempted to tackle soprano parts as well but this expansion upwards of her repertoire did not prove to be an unqualified success due to limitations with her highest notes.
Matzenauer made her debut (as a mezzo) at the New York Metropolitan Opera
in Aida on 13 November 1911, singing Amneris on opening night with a cast that also featured Emmy Destinn
as Aida and Enrico Caruso as Radames, with Toscanini
on the podium. A few days later she displayed her versatility by appearing in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
.
She reputedly had a so-called photographic memory, too, and she saved the day for the Met's management on 1 January 1912 when, with only a few days' notice, she appeared as Kundry in the opera Parsifal
, a highly demanding role that she had not sung before.
Matzenauer remained at the Met for a total of 19 seasons, delivering a wide variety of roles including Eboli in the first Met production of Don Carlo (1920), Santuzza, Marina in Boris Godunov
, Leonore in Fidelio
and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
. She gave her farewell Met performance on 17 February 1930 as Amneris, but she continued singing opera elsewhere and giving concerts. Matzenaur also took up teaching; two of her pupils were mezzo-sopranos Blanche Thebom
and Nell Tangeman
. Her last stage appearance was in a Broadway comedy, Vicki, in 1942.
In 1911, she had married one of her Met colleagues, namely the fine Italian-born dramatic tenor Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana (1878-1936). Consequently, she acquired automatic Italian citizenship. The marriage ended in divorce in 1917, however.
Matzenauer made a sizeable number of 78-rpm recordings, many of which are available on CD reissues. She died in 1963 at the Sherman Way Convalescent Hospital.
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(now Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) — 19 May 1963, Van Nuys, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
) was a mezzo-soprano singer with an opulent timbre and a wide range to her voice. She performed key works from both the Italian and German opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic repertoires in Europe and the United States.
Biography
Born in the BanatBanat
The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in western Romania , the western part in northeastern Serbia , and a small...
region of Hungary, her father Ludwig was a conductor; her mother an opera singer. She considered herself Hungarian although she had Germanic blood and the place of her birth is now in western Romania.
She studied opera in Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
and Berlin, making her operatic debut in 1901 as "Puck" in Weber
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school....
's Oberon
Oberon (opera)
Oberon, or The Elf King's Oath is a 3-act romantic opera in English with spoken dialogue and music by Carl Maria von Weber. The libretto by James Robinson Planche was based on a German poem, Oberon, by Christoph Martin Wieland, which itself was based on the epic romance Huon de Bordeaux, a French...
. She began singing major roles such as Azucena in Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
, Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, Mignon
Mignon
Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,...
, Waltraute and Erda in the Ring operas
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
and Ortrud in Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
. She first achieved fame in Europe as a contralto and mezzo-soprano, and she was engaged to appear at the 1911 Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
. She was tempted to tackle soprano parts as well but this expansion upwards of her repertoire did not prove to be an unqualified success due to limitations with her highest notes.
Matzenauer made her debut (as a mezzo) at the New York Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in Aida on 13 November 1911, singing Amneris on opening night with a cast that also featured Emmy Destinn
Emmy Destinn
Emmy Destinn was a Czech operatic soprano with a strong and soaring lyric-dramatic voice. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera.- Biography :...
as Aida and Enrico Caruso as Radames, with Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
on the podium. A few days later she displayed her versatility by appearing in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
.
She reputedly had a so-called photographic memory, too, and she saved the day for the Met's management on 1 January 1912 when, with only a few days' notice, she appeared as Kundry in the opera Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, a highly demanding role that she had not sung before.
Matzenauer remained at the Met for a total of 19 seasons, delivering a wide variety of roles including Eboli in the first Met production of Don Carlo (1920), Santuzza, Marina in Boris Godunov
Boris Godunov (opera)
Boris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1873 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subjects are the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar during the Time of Troubles,...
, Leonore in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
. She gave her farewell Met performance on 17 February 1930 as Amneris, but she continued singing opera elsewhere and giving concerts. Matzenaur also took up teaching; two of her pupils were mezzo-sopranos Blanche Thebom
Blanche Thebom
Blanche Thebom was an American operatic mezzo-soprano, voice teacher, and opera director. She was part of the first wave of American opera singers that had highly successful international careers. In her own country she had a long association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City which...
and Nell Tangeman
Nell Tangeman
Nell Tangeman was an American mezzo-soprano. After earning a degree in violin performance from Ohio State University, she pursued vocal studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. She studied with Friedrich Schorr, Margaret Matzenaur, and Nadia Boulanger...
. Her last stage appearance was in a Broadway comedy, Vicki, in 1942.
In 1911, she had married one of her Met colleagues, namely the fine Italian-born dramatic tenor Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana (1878-1936). Consequently, she acquired automatic Italian citizenship. The marriage ended in divorce in 1917, however.
Matzenauer made a sizeable number of 78-rpm recordings, many of which are available on CD reissues. She died in 1963 at the Sherman Way Convalescent Hospital.