Carlotta Vanconti

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Carlotta Vanconti , bourgeois Martha Karoline Maria Emilie Wunder (born January 28, 1894 in Hamburg , according to other sources 1892 in Hanover, † November 16, 1964 in Berlin ) was a German operetta singer ( soprano ).

Life

Carlotta Vanconti came from the Hamburg working-class district of Barmbek . Nothing is known about their training and artistic beginnings. Her first marriage was to a South Tyrolean merchant named Ferdinand Xeconty. However, she always falsely stated that her stage name Vanconti was derived from an Italian Count Conti, with whom she was allegedly married. The combination of her first name “Wanda” and “Conti”, the last name of her ex-husband, gave her stage name “Vanconti”.

Vanconti worked as a stage actress in the role of soubrette . In 1924, along with Betty Fischer , Emmy Kósary and Lea Seidl, she was one of the four singers who had been engaged at the Theater an der Wien for the title role in the performances of the Kálmán operetta Countess Mariza . Vanconti was mainly hired as a substitute for Lea Seidl in case she fell ill or had other foreign obligations. In July 1924 Vanconti sang the title role for the first time. Vanconti was described in the Neue Freie Presse as "an enchanting beauty, irresistibly rousing in her game with charm and temperament"; her singing is "free from any operetta nastiness" and betrays "almost operatic culture". From August 1924 she alternated in the title role with the newly engaged operetta singer Lya Beyer .

After a performance of Countess Mariza , she met the celebrated opera singer Richard Tauber , either in July 1924 or in early September 1924, who fell in love with her at first sight. After guest appearances with Mozart at the Vienna State Opera , Tauber was persuaded by Hubert Marischka , the director and producer of the Countess Mariza production, to attend a performance. For the 1924/25 season, Vanconti, together with Lya Beyer, was again signed up for the Countess Mariza production. Tauber paid a transfer fee for Vanconti and, after Marischka released her from the contract, went with her to Berlin. When they arrived in Berlin, both of them stayed at the noble Hotel Adlon , where they lived for some time from the beginning of 1925 before Tauber rented a villa in Babelsberg . Tauber and Vanconti later moved into a joint apartment on Innsbrucker Strasse in Berlin.

In June / July 1925 Vanconti and Tauber went on vacation in Baden-Baden . At the German Theater Ball , Tauber officially introduced her to Berlin society as his bride in early 1926. In order to be able to divorce, Vanconti took the Hungarian citizenship, whereby she was no longer subject to the Catholic-influenced Italian divorce law. On March 18, 1926, Tauber and Vanconti married in a small circle in Vienna. The wedding ceremony took place four days later in the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. a. Franz Lehár , Erich Kleiber , Vera Schwarz , Carl Clewing and Hans Heinz Bollmann were invited.

In July 1927 she sang Sonja in Lehár's operetta Der Zarewitsch with Tauber in Cologne . Performances in Frankfurt am Main followed in September / October 1927 , and further performances in December 1927 and January 1928 in the Reichshallen in Cologne. She canceled her joint appearances with Tauber, planned for July 1928 at the Johann Strauss Theater in Vienna, one week before the start of the Tsarevich series of performances because of an alleged indisposition; Tauber, however, saw the reason for the cancellation in her persistent mood. From August 1928 she appeared together with Tauber as Sonja in Der Zarewitsch in the Berlin Lessing Theater , for which Tauber paid the director Heinz Saltenburg 40,000 RM so that he could let his wife perform.

At the end of September 1928, Vanconti, who had numerous lovers during their marriage, and Tauber separated. Tauber's lawyers prepared an amicable separation agreement, which, however, initially did not materialize due to Vanconti's excessive monetary claims. Vanconti put Tauber under massive pressure after the separation, blackmailed him and threatened to reveal details about his intimate life. With reference to Tauber's plans for divorce, the Neue Wiener Journal also reported in its November 6, 1928 edition that Vanconti was last part of the ensemble of the Bern City Theater under the name “Lotte Wander” [sic!] .

At the beginning of December 1928 the marriage was divorced in Berlin, but only with validity in the legal area of ​​the German Reich . A few days later, in order to put Tauber under further pressure, Carlotta Vanconti undertook a "stage effective", largely staged suicide attempt with sedatives and sleeping pills, the alleged background of which she cleverly launched in the press. In the years that followed, despite a generous divorce settlement, Vanconti continued to make threats and demands. From July 1935, Tauber, who had continued to support Vanconti after the divorce for fear of possible revelations, also pursued the divorce under Austrian law after Vanconti had sued him for allegedly missing maintenance payments. In October 1935, Tauber finally filed a counterclaim against Vanconti for extortion. In November 1935 the criminal case against Vanconti was opened. In March 1936, the marriage in Vienna was divorced under Austrian law. A few days later, on March 19, 1936, Vanconti was sentenced to two months in prison for extortion with a suspended sentence of two years. Vanconti's maintenance suit against Tauber was finally dismissed in July 1938 by the Inner City District Court for a fee.

After the “ Anschluss of Austria ”, Vanconti again asserted maintenance claims on the grounds that the old divorce decree was no longer valid under the new legal and state system. She requested the retroactive alimentation from 1935 and asked the management of the Vienna State Opera to list all of Tauber's opera fees. Vanconti failed, however, because Tauber had already fully spent the fees received from the Vienna State Opera.

In the German Stage Yearbook, Vanconti was still listed as a singer without engagement from 1938 to 1944. After the Second World War she worked in Berlin as a “teacher for speech technology and art singing”. She last lived on the Südwestkorso in the artist colony of Friedenau .

Sound recordings

Carlotta Vanconti recorded some operetta songs with Richard Tauber between 1924 and 1928.

The first joint recording, the duet My Dear Treasure from Countess Mariza , was made in November 1924.

In October 1925, Odeon in Berlin made two duet recordings from the operetta Paganini , the duet Anna Elisa-Paganini What I think, what I feel and the Buffo duet Once I want to do something foolish ; In January 1926, Odeon did the Paganini love duet Nobody loves you like me .

In February 1927, Vanconti recorded the two duets Hab only dich alone and Why does every spring oh only one May from the operetta The Tsarevich with Tauber .

In June 1928, Vanconti's last joint recordings with Tauber, four operetta duets from Der Zigeunerbaron , Der Rastelbinder , Die Rose von Stambul and Das Dreimäderlhaus were made .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Miracle, Martha Caroline Maria Emilie . Entry German biography . Retrieved May 13, 2020
  2. ^ Paul S. Ulrich: Biographical Index for Theater, Dance and Music / Biographical Index for Theater, Dance and Music . Berlin publishing house. Arno Spitz GmbH. 1997. P. 1866. ISBN 978-3-87061-479-9
  3. ↑ Karin Ploog: ... When the notes learned to run ... Part 2. History and stories of popular music until 1945-composer-librettist-lyricist . Books On Demand, 2015, page 120. ISBN 978-3-7347-4718-2 .
  4. ↑ a b The artist couple Tauber . In: Österreichische Illustrierte Zeitung of January 13, 1929. Page 9, continued on p. 16.
  5. ↑ a b Theater and Art News . In: Neue Freie Presse of July 25, 1924. Page 8.
  6. ↑ Theater and Art . In: Der Humorist from August 8, 1924. Page 2.
  7. ↑ Since Lea Seidl had already terminated her contract amicably with the management of the Theater an der Wien in August 1924, the first meeting between Vanconti and Tauber probably took place in July 1924. However, if one follows the assumption that the first meeting did not take place until the beginning of September 1924, there is probably a confusion between Lea Seidl and Lya Beyer in Jürgs' description (page 69f.). Some Viennese newspapers had erroneously reported that Lea Seidl would be singing from September 1924.
  8. ↑ Theater and Art . In: Der Humorist from November 24, 1924. Page 3.
  9. ↑ Due to an early adolescence , Tauber could not have sexual intercourse , so that the marriage was never consummated physically.
  10. ↑ Kammersänger Richard Tauber is getting a divorce . In: Neues Wiener Journal from November 6, 1928. Page 5.
  11. ↑ Possibly the “last” season meant the 1928/29 season.
  12. ↑ Michael Jürgs : I was happy to kiss women. The Richard Tauber biography . Appendix with life data of Richard Tauber. List Verlag Munich 2000. Page 89f. ISBN 3-471-79429-8 .
  13. ^ The suicide attempt of Mrs. Carlotta Vanconti-Tauber . In: The Hour of December 13, 1928. Page 5.
  14. ↑ Alimentation suit against Richard Tauber dismissed . In: Illustrierte Kronen-Zeitung from July 19, 1938. Page 12.
  15. ↑ "My dear treasure" from "Countess Mariza" v. Kálmán . Sound document. Retrieved May 13, 2020
  16. ↑ a b c Carlotta Vanconti, soprano, Richard Tauber, tenor . Sound recordings. Official website of the AHRC Research Center for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music. Retrieved May 13, 2020
  17. ↑ Carlotta Vanconti & Richard Tauber - What I think, what I feel . Sound document. Retrieved May 13, 2020
  18. ↑ Carlotta Vanconti & Richard Tauber - Nobody loves you like me . Sound document. Retrieved May 13, 2020
  19. ↑ The Tsarevich: Kosende Wellen. Why does every spring have · Richard Tauber · Carlotta Vanconti . Sound document. Retrieved May 13, 2020
  20. ↑ The Tsarevich . Shot details. Retrieved May 13, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Vanconti, Carlotta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wunder, Martha Karoline Maria Emilie (maiden name); Xeconty, Martha Karoline Maria Emilie (married name); Tauber-Vanconti, Carlotta (married name); Vanconti-Tauber, Carlotta (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German operetta singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg , German Empire
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1964
Place of death Berlin , West Germany