Clara Ebers

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Clara Ebers in the 1930s.

Clara Ebers (born December 26, 1902 in Karlsruhe , † February 7, 1997 in Hamburg ) was a German opera singer with a soprano voice .

Life

Training and career start

Ebers received her vocal training from H. Kraus-Adena in Amsterdam and from Eduard Erhard in Karlsruhe. After a traineeship at the Karlsruhe State Theater (1924/1925), she sang at the Mönchengladbach City Theater (1925/1926) and at the Düsseldorf City Theater (1926–1928).

Engagement at the Frankfurt Opera

From 1928 to 1944 she was a permanent member of the ensemble at the Frankfurt Opera . Before her engagement in Frankfurt Ebers had made a guest appearance there as Olympia in the opera Hoffmann's Tales ; then she was hired to succeed Adele Kern for coloratura . At the Frankfurt Opera Ebers sang mainly the role of the coloratura soubrette and the lyrical-dramatic coloratura soprano . Her roles during this period included Susanna in Figaro's wedding , Despina in Così fan tutte , Gilda in Rigoletto , Ighino in Palestrina and Zerbinetta in Ariadne on Naxos . However, she has already taken on more dramatic roles such as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte , Donna Anna in Don Giovanni , Violetta in La Traviata , Elisabeth von Valois in Don Carlos , Lisa in the operetta The Land of Smiles and the title role in the opera Daphne .

At the Frankfurt Opera Ebers appeared in three world premieres: Carmina Burana (June 1937; soprano solo), as Isabella in the opera Columbus by Werner Egk (January 1942) and in the opera Odysseus by Hermann Reutter (October 1942).

During her time in Frankfurt, Ebers gave guest performances in Amsterdam (1934; as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier with the ensemble of the Frankfurt Opera), at the Stadttheater Zürich (1934; as Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte ), at the Dresden State Opera (1935), at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp (1937/1938 season) and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (1938; as Helmwige in Die Walküre ).

Engagement at the Hamburg State Opera

After the Second World War , Ebers initially resumed her career at the Stadttheater Kiel (season 1945/1946). In 1946 Ebers was hired as “First Soprano” at the Hamburg State Opera ; there she remained a permanent member of the ensemble until 1965. In the era of Artistic Director Günther Rennert , Ebers was considered “one of the most important Mozart singers at the Hamburg State Opera.” In June 1963 she worked as a countess alongside Mathieu Ahlersmeyer (Count Almaviva), Toni Blankenheim (Figaro) and Melitta Muszely (Susanna) Almaviva at the Hamburg State Opera in the world premiere of the opera divorces Figaro of Giselher Klebe with.

In Hamburg, Ebers continued to sing the dramatic coloratura subject, but then switched to the youthful-dramatic and the dramatic subject. In Hamburg she sang roles such as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail , Pamina in Die Zauberflöte , Agathe in Der Freischütz , Leonore in Der Troubadour , Leonora di Vargas in Die Macht des Schicksals , Desdemona in Otello , Olympia / Giulietta / Antonia / Stella in Hoffmann's Tales , Maddalena in Andrea Chénier , the title role in Arabella , the Empress in The Woman Without a Shadow and the Countess in Capriccio . The field marshal in the Strauss opera Der Rosenkavalier became a particularly brilliant role in the second part of her career .

During her time in Hamburg, Ebers made guest appearances at the Berlin State Opera (1955–1961), the Bavarian State Opera , the Vienna State Opera (February 1963 as Marschallin), the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (1950; as Violetta), at the La Scala in Milan , at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels , at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon , at the Nice Opera House and at the Bern City Theater .

She appeared at the Zürcher Festwochen (1951; as Christine in Intermezzo ), at the Festival in Aix-en-Provence (1949), at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Glyndebourne Festival (1950; as Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro ).

Lied singer and professor

Ebers was also a highly respected song singer ; she was often accompanied on the piano by the composer Hans Pfitzner .

In 1965 she resigned from the stage and then taught singing at the Hamburg University of Music until 1971 . After that she lived in Hamburg, largely withdrawn, until her death.

Voice and repertoire

Ebers had a "richly educated, technically superior" soprano voice (Kutsch / Riemens). She sang a wide-ranging repertoire on stage and in the concert hall, encompassing the entire coloratura subject, the role subject of dramatic coloratura soprano, most recently with the transition to the youthful-dramatic subject.

theatre

Honors

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clara Ebers ; Obituary in: Das Opernglas , April 1997 edition, p. 67.
  2. ↑ Announcement of awards of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In: Federal Gazette . Vol. 30, No. 172, September 13, 1978.
personal data
SURNAME Ebers, Clara
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Karlsruhe
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1997
Place of death Hamburg