Elsa Oehme-Förster

Elsa Oehme-Förster (born September 23, 1899 in New York , † September 21, 1987 in Cologne ) was an American-German opera singer ( soprano ) and film actress .

Life

Her father was a clarinetist in the orchestra of the New York Metropolitan Opera . As a child she performed there in singing and ballet roles; Among other things, she performed the demanding role of the broom-maker in the premiere series of the opera Königskinder by Engelbert Humperdinck .

From 1915 she began studying singing with Frank-Dossert and from 1918 at the Grauberry Conservatory in New York. The artist made her debut in 1920 with the Ossining Opera Company; 1920–1921 followed a North American tour with the Fleck Opera Company. She then came to Germany, where she was engaged at the Düsseldorf Opera House from 1922 to 1924, including in the 1923 premiere of the opera Die heilige Ente by Hans Gál . On the side, she made some silent films, including the comedy A girl from a good family.

In 1924 she stood in for the flourishing Cologne Opera as Gounod's Margarethe and caused a storm of jubilation. Shortly afterwards, when she sang Agathe in Carl Maria von Weber's Freischütz at the same house , the Kölnische Volkszeitung commented: "Miss Förster must have gone home with a permanent contract." In fact, from 1924 to 1944, the Förster became a prima donna the old Cologne Opera . Her repertoire included over 50 roles. Her "expressive, lyrical soprano voice, the possibilities of which extend into the dramatic subject" and her stage presence were praised. “The delicate, graceful figure” of the forester and her “acting talent” made her a national sensation. When she gave the goose girl in Humperdinck's Königskinder in Cologne , the New York press was present and put her performance on a par with that of the legendary Geraldine Farrar , who had created the goose girl at the premiere of this opera at the MET and in which the forester played a child role had debuted.

Her brilliant roles were Agathe in Freischütz, Elsa in Lohengrin , Senta in Der fiegen Holländer , Irene in Rienzi , Micaela in Carmen , the title role in the opera Louise by Charpentier and Martha in Tiefland by Eugen d'Albert as well as the Elisabeth im Tannhäuser and the title role in Turandot . In Cologne she also sang in the European premiere of Prokofieff's Die Liebe zu den Drei Orangen (1925), in the world premieres of the operas The Sacrifice of the Prisoner by Egon Wellesz (1926), Schwanhild by Paul Graener (1942 in the title role) and in the First performance of Siegfried Wagner's Der Heidenkönig (1933). She also had a significant career as a concert singer. Despite offers from Munich, Vienna, Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg, she remained loyal to Cologne. She was married to the Cologne merchant Walter Oehme and had two daughters with him. As a public figure, she inaugurated buildings in Cologne, kicked off sports competitions and incurred the wrath of the National Socialists through statements critical of the regime. The then imposed performance ban had to be withdrawn again under pressure from the population.

Since 1938 she also worked as a teacher in Cologne, where she performed as a guest at the opera house until 1952. From 1949 to 1952 she was engaged at the Stadttheater von Hagen (Westphalia) and then retired from the stage.

Discography

• The Cologne Opera from the turn of the century to the middle of the century . TMK music production, Cologne 2001.
• How slumber came to me . Agathe's aria. Electrola, 1932.
• Farewell for . Quartet from La Bohème . Electrola, 1932.

Filmography

• 1919: A girl from a good family

literature

• Elmar Buck: Cologne, the city and its theater . M.Faste, Kassel 2007, ISBN 978-3-931691-52-3 .
• Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . KG Saur.

Web links

• Elsa Oehme-Förster in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)