Grete Merrem-Nikisch
Margarete Karoline "Grete" Merrem-Nikisch (born July 7, 1887 in Düren , † March 12, 1970 in Kiel ) was a German opera singer ( soprano ).
Life
Grete Merrem-Nikisch first studied with Rudolf Schulz-Dornburg in Cologne and then at the renowned Royal Conservatory in Leipzig , where she made her debut in 1910 at the city opera house . Just one year later she gave her first guest appearance at the Berlin Court Opera as the goose girl in Engelbert Humperdinck's opera Königskinder . In 1913 she got a permanent engagement at the opera in Dresden and took part in various world premieres: in 1916 she played the slave Arsinoë in Eugen d'Albert's opera Die toten Augen , in 1917 the title role in Hans Pfitzner's play opera Das Christ-Elflein , in 1926 the lady in Paul Hindemith's Cardillac . During this time she occasionally appeared abroad, for example at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden , where she sang the part of Eva in Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg in 1914 ; The performance was conducted by her father-in-law Arthur Nikisch .
Grete Merrem-Nikisch documented her versatility with a spectrum ranging from tragic operas (including the title role in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and the role of Irene in Wagner's Rienzi ) to operettas ( Die Fledermaus , The Merry Widow ). She celebrated great success in several Mozart productions, such as Dorabella in Così fan tutte , Zerlina in Don Giovanni or Susanna in Figaro's wedding . In 1930 she said goodbye to the stage with the role of Veronika in Jan Brandts-Buys ' comic opera Die Schneider von Schönau . Then she was made an honorary member of the Dresden Opera.
Recordings were made with well-known Dresden and Berlin artists such as Karin Branzell , Meta Seinemeyer and Richard Tauber . She can be heard in an acoustic Polydor production of Richard Strauss ' autobiographical opera Intermezzo . In 1924, shortly after the work's premiere in Dresden, she took over the role of Christine from her colleague Lotte Lehmann .
From 1914 Grete Merrem-Nikisch was married to the well-known jurist Arthur Philipp Nikisch , whose memoirs she published in 1969 under the title Science and Art .
literature
- Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Merrem-Nikisch, Grete. In: Large song dictionary . 3rd edition, Munich 1997-2000, Vol. 3, p. 2337
- Elizabeth Forbes: Grete Merrem-Nikisch . In: Laura Williams Lacy (Ed.): The Grove Book of Opera Singers . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2008, p. 319 ( online version )
Web links
- Grete Merrem-Nikisch at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Merrem-Nikisch, Grete |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Merrem-Nikisch, Margarete Karoline |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German opera singer (soprano) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 7, 1887 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Düren |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 12, 1970 |
| Place of death | Kiel |