Hatsue Yuasa

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Hatsue Yuasa ( Japanese 湯 浅 初 枝 Yuasa Hatsue ; born June 22, 1902 in Tokyo Prefecture , † after 1943) was a Japanese opera singer ( soprano ).

biography

Hatsue Yuasa was the daughter of the early deceased naval officer Takejirō Yuasa (1871-1904) and the Sakae Yushisaki (1885-1923). After attending the upper lyceum in Tokyo, she completed a vocal study at the Imperial Music Academy in Tokyo from 1919 to 1923 . Her teacher was the German-Norwegian musician Hanka Petzold (1862–1937), a former student of Liszt , a recognized Wagner interpreter and wife of the journalist Bruno Petzold . From 1923 Yuasa continued her training with Ernst Grenzebach and Adolf Philipsen in Berlin .

On July 17, 1926, Yuasa married the Berlin pianist Walther Carl Meiszner (actually: Meißner), whom she had met on her Berlin debut and who subsequently appeared as her piano accompanist. In 1929 the couple lived at Schlossstrasse 53 in Berlin-Charlottenburg ; the marriage remained childless. Yuasa's husband died in 1931 at the age of 35.

In Europe it was advertised that Yuasa was a soloist at the Imperial Opera in Tokyo. Between 1925 and 1943 she sang on European stages, primarily in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia. Hatsue Yuasa often played Madame Butterfly in the opera of the same name by Giacomo Puccini , such as in 1930 at the Lippisches Landestheater Detmold . In the same year she sang Butterfly in a performance with the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra in the Salzburg Festival Hall . In March 1936 she made a guest appearance in this role at the Hamburg Volksoper . Yuasa also played concert evenings. So she performed on March 8, 1928 in Bergen with the local symphony orchestra. She sang four opera arias (including the butterfly aria Un bel dì, vedremo ) and six songs, four of which were compositions by her compatriot Yamada Kōsaku . In the same year she gave 24 concerts in England.

The various concert reviews expressed their astonishment that a singer from Japan was able to interpret Western opera music, and they often discussed the appearance of Yuasa. The Wiener Salonblatt wrote in 1925:

“We hear that the 'Only Recital' by Japanese singer Hatsue Yuasa is to be followed by a second; but nonetheless it was a real pleasure to see and hear this charming, foreign human blossom. [...] It was amazing how this Japanese woman could empathize with the style of the West. We wish our singers of the same age their perfect singing art, their breathy pianissimo and the moving expression in all shades of human feeling. "

In 1926 the trade journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik praised the “ kimono-clad graceful appearance” and the “perfect singing art ” of the singer. In 1928 the Linzer Tages-Post read:

"A pup. Such a real Japanese one with wide apart eyes, porcelain complexion [...], delicate limbs. It has a thick black pageboy's head and is - how sweetly - fluttered around with rose-red European tulle clouds. A lovely miniature. As if left open to bring geisha poetry to life. And then the doll starts to sing, with erotic, but funny, loving lip movements and a velvety voice. Do you hear right? They are Italian arias in their original language, they flow like milk and honey. […] There it is, the real Madame Butterfly. [...] Something dear and bakschier has never been there! "

Among the fans of the “Japanese Nightingale” was the playwright Gerhart Hauptmann , who wrote her a thank you letter after a concert.

Between 1932 and 1934 Yuasa starred in four German films, including alongside the popular singer Helge Rosvaenge in the feature film Der Knalleffekt . In it she helps a singer in the lead role of the opera The Postillon by Lonjumeau to achieve the desired crack effect with a whip by attaching snap peas to it. In 1933 she appeared in the film Spiegel , which was produced by Nicholas Kaufmann and based on a screenplay by Wilhelm Prager . The director of the short film, in which Japanese life was shown, was her compatriot, the musician Kōichi Kishi (1909-1937).

Hatsue Yuasa sang in Germany and German occupied territories until at least 1943. She gave numerous concerts in Berlin, for example in January 1942 when she sang songs by Gluck and Johannes Brahms in the Beethovensaal ; Michael Raucheisen sat at the piano . At a concert in Dresden in March 1943, the composer and musician Willy Jaeger (1895–1986) was her piano accompanist. 1945 a sound recording has been published, where they Cherubino from the Marriage of Figaro by Mozart sang. There is no information about Yuasa's further life.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rohm Music Foundation 4 (English Version). In: ryousyo1000.com. Retrieved January 17, 2017 . in Tokyo ; with Erich H. Müller: German Musicians Lexicon . Dresden 1929. only the year 1902, in family papers of the Meißner family June 22, 1905, the year is probably written here.
  2. ↑ The only reference work with biographical information on Hatsue Yuasa is Erich H. Müller: German Musicians Lexicon . Dresden 1929. As the author reports, the information comes from the artists themselves, to whom he sent questionnaires. The comment about her father is "Takejiro Y. Captain 70-03". The discrepancy between the year of birth and year of death by one year is likely to be based on a calculation error. While for the father, who died at an early age, Yuasa's only year information is given in the life data, for the mother there are also day and month information.
  3. ↑ a b Erich H. Müller: German Musicians Lexicon . Dresden 1929.
  4. ^ Bieber, Hans-Joachim: SS and Samurai. IUDICIUM Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-86205-043-7 , p. 49 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  5. ↑ East, West Wed . In: Albuquerque Journal , January 16, 1927, p. 3: “Bride of Walter Carl Meissner, famed in Europe as a pianist, is Hatsui Yuasa, Japanese singer. They met when she made her debut in Berlin. "
  6. ↑ Bergen Public Library: Bergens Symfoniorkester 1927-1928. In: issuu.com. December 9, 2013, accessed January 11, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Schlesische Funkstunde (PDF) In: Ramslauer Stadtblatt of July 6, 1926; accessed on January 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ Concert Guide Berlin-Brandenburg 1920-2012. 7th year. In: SIMPK digital collections. Retrieved January 11, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Kevin Sommer: Detmold Theater History around 1930: State Library digitizes theater bills . In: Heimatland Lippe , Heft 106 (2013), 311-312 (available online). Retrieved January 14, 2017.
  10. ^ Paul Möhring: The other St. Pauli: cultural history of the Reeperbahn. Matari Verlag, 1965, p. 68 (available online from Google Books).
  11. ↑ Concert Guide Berlin-Brandenburg 1920-2012. 8th year. SIMPK digital collections, October 8, 1927, accessed February 6, 2017 .
  12. ^ Wiener Salonblatt , December 13, 1925, p. 25.
  13. ^ Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik 1926  - Internet Archive
  14. ↑ Linzer Tages-Post , January 6, 1928, p. 16.
  15. ↑ Lippe Library: Text 2013-7: New playbill. In: llb-detmold.de. Retrieved January 14, 2017 .
  16. ↑ exhibion letters and texts. (PDF) Liechtenstein National Museum; accessed on January 14, 2017.
  17. ↑ Summary of the film: Kammersänger Jean Roland has taken on the leading role in the opera Der Postillon by Lonjumeau . The main attraction of the performance should be that Roland cracks his whip like a real postilion. When Roland still can't do that on the day of the premiere, he wants to take lessons from a cab driver. A Japanese singer is sitting in the cab. When Roland tries to bang, the horses and the carriage run away. The police are following him; Finally he ends up in a barracks with the Japanese. He proves to the officer that he really is a singer through an art rehearsal. It is almost too late: the opera performance is just beginning and a colleague is already singing Roland's part. Roland lets himself be driven to the opera in a hurry and takes over the aria there. The crack of the whip also works, because the helpful Japanese singer has attached snap peas to the whip. See: Cinematography: B32378 INH
  18. ↑ Kôichi Kishi - a Japanese musician. In: de.emb-japan.go.jp. April 17, 2009. Retrieved January 15, 2017 .
  19. ^ Bieber, Hans-Joachim: SS and Samurai. IUDICIUM Verlag, 2014, ISBN 978-3-86205-043-7 , p. 895 ( limited preview in Google book search).
  20. ↑ Volume 23 - Digital Collections of the SIMPK. In: digital.sim.spk-berlin.de. January 25, 1943, accessed February 6, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Yvonne Grolik: Willy Jaeger's life and work . Page 66. Verlag Wetterauer Zeitung 1993. Accessed on January 14, 2017 (available online via Google Books).
  22. ^ Mozart sound and film collection. (No longer available online.) In: mozarteum.at. Archived from the original on January 14, 2017 ; accessed on January 14, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mozarteum.at
personal data
SURNAME Yuasa, Hatsue
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 湯 浅 初 枝 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Tokyo prefecture
DATE OF DEATH after 1943