Hildegard Stradal

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Hildegard Stradal (born May 5, 1864 in Vienna , † August 7, 1948 in Halle (Saale) ; born Zweigelt) was an Austrian singer ( mezzo-soprano ), writer and translator.

Life

Hildegard Stradal was born in Vienna as the only child of the music teacher (Josef) Moritz Zweigelt (1838–1906) and his wife Franziska (née Nitsch). From the age of five, the father taught the highly musical daughter to play the piano. She received singing training from the singing teacher and soprano Caroline Pruckner in Vienna, who regularly gave concerts with her students.

On April 30, 1888, she married the pianist and Liszt student August Stradal (1860–1930) in the Augustinian Church in Vienna . Hildegard Stradal agreed to the marriage not without hesitation: "... we did not doubt that the artist, in a certain way, suffered a loss of free development through marriage, especially the woman." During the 42 years of living together she cared constantly about her husband's musical career and his unstable health. The marriage remained childless.

From around 1889 to 1915, the Stradals traveled from May to October to spend the summer on Lake Chiemsee . At first they lived in the villa of Franz Stradals, the father-in-law, on Fraueninsel , later in Prien . In 1917 they sold the Prien villa in order to forestall a war-related confiscation as a foreigner .

From 1916 until the end of the First World War, Hildegard Stradal worked under Baroness Spitzmüller in the office of the Red Cross in Vienna . For financial reasons, the main residence in Vienna also had to be given up. The Stradals moved to Schönlinde (now Krásná Lípa , Czech Republic), where they inherited the house of their deceased aunt. Once again, already very old, Hildegard Stradal had to change residence. In the Czech Republic she fell victim to the wave of displacement at the end of the Second World War. She was one of the nearly 35,000 refugees and displaced persons who came to Halle and the surrounding area from 1945 to 1949 . In 1948 she died in the retirement home at Beesener Strasse 15 in Halle (Saale) .

Working as a singer

The Stradals went on concert tours that took them across Europe. Munich , Paris , London , Dresden , Leipzig , Hamburg , Budapest , Brussels were the stations of their lively concert activity until with the outbreak of the First World War “the gate fell which for an indefinite period of time opened the way to joy, peace, work and all that is beautiful in this world The world closed to mankind. "

Hildegard Stradal's first appearance as a concert host was received very positively: "Ms. Stradal, a graceful, girlish appearance with enthusiastic doe eyes, is rightly celebrated in Viennese social circles because of her extraordinary talent as a song singer", so the Wiener Salonblatt on April 7, 1889. " At the end of the concert, the podium looked like a flower garden, in which I stood intimidated and almost ashamed, ”she reported herself. Around 1900, recitals were extremely popular with the audience. In the Bösendorfer Hall they even exceeded the number of piano recitals. Even later, Hildegard Stradal's concerts as a lieder singer, usually accompanied by August Stradal, received favorable reviews from the press.

Several of Hildegard Stradal's poems were set to music, such as B. from her husband and the composers Friedrich Weigmann (1869–1939) and Markus Lehmann (1919–2003). A friendship with Ludwig Ferdinand Prince of Bavaria (1859–1949) developed through contacts with members of the Bavarian Court who spent the summer at Wildenwart Castle in Chiemgau and attended Stradals concerts . He also set a poem by Hildegard Stradal to music: "The clouds hang down gray".

Writing

While the musical works of the arranger and pianist August Stradal are well recorded thanks to the biography of August Stradal's life written by his wife, Hildegard Stradals own literary works are difficult to track down due to two world wars and the associated change of location. You are also in the shadow of your work as a song singer.

Hildegard Stradal found leisure for her writing work above all at the Chiemsee . The proximity to Munich , “this Dorado of all artistic natures”, the social life in the summer , excursions to the Chiemgau and Berchtesgaden Alps were a rich source of inspiration. A total of six volumes of poetry were published from 1890 to 1909. Hildegard Stradal also worked as a translator. She translated three series of poems by Victor Hugo into German: 1897 rays and shadows ( Les Rayons et les Ombres , 1840), 1903 From the Orient ( Les orientales , 1829) and 1911 Dawn of Souls ( Les chants du crépuscule , 1835). In 1917 the tragedy Alexander of Macedonia was published , a adaptation of Arthur de Gobineau's Alexandre le Macédonia (1847).

She also wrote dramatic texts herself: His daughter (1899), Helga (1900), Der Spielmann (1901), Auf einsamer Höhe (1904). In addition, there were verses such as Solstice (1901), What the torrent tells (1902), The holy Elisabeth (1904).

The humorous prose text From our four-legged housemates (1912) describes experiences with the Stradals' pets and anecdotes about shared train journeys. Based on ETA Hoffmann's news of the latest fate of the dog Berganza , the dog Sully also has a passion for singing and his own musical judgment, which coincides with the Liszt enthusiasm of the Stradals.

Hildegard Stradals most successful title was the biography of her husband: August Stradals Lebensbild (1934). The description of the concert tours and experiences together also convey autobiographical details. Numerous social encounters create a broad panorama of the Austro-German music scene. "The whole of the second half of the 19th century, especially the whole rich, finely ramified Viennese culture with all the many names from the Liszt , Wagner and Bruckner circles that are so dear to us elders , stands up again in these sheets with astonishing liveliness" , judged the composer and music writer Walter Niemann in 1935 in the magazine for music . Included travel reports such as the visit to the island of Arbe ( Rab ) and the ascent of the Tigna Rossa (Kamenjak) on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary live on Hildegard Stradals enthusiasm for nature and linguistic sophistication. The closing words of the Bohemian composer Rudolph von Procházka praises the literary quality of the work: “It is a book that captivates not only the people from the field, but every educated reader from the first to the last page, revealing the skillful writer in every line. The interesting travel descriptions increase the value of the work no less than those of the various artist encounters ... "

Literary works

  • Poems. 1st volume. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1890.
  • Poems. 2nd volume. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1895.
  • Poems. 3rd volume. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1898.
  • One life. Poems. 4th volume. TG Fisher, Kassel 1900.
  • At dusk. Poems. 5th volume. E. Pierson, Dresden [1907].
  • From difficult days. Poems. 6th volume. E. Pierson, Dresden 1909.
  • Solstice. Narration in verse. 1901 (quoted from Kosch).
  • What the torrent tells. Narration in verse. 1902 (quoted from Kosch).
  • Saint Elizabeth. Narration in verse. Th. G. Fisher & Co, Berlin a. a. 1904.
  • His daughter. Lyric poem in one act. Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1899.
  • Helga. Action in 5 sections. Th. G. Fisher, Kassel 1900.
  • The minstrel. Drama in 1 act. G. Fisher, Kassel 1901.
  • At a lonely height. Drama in 2 acts. Th. Fisher & Co, Leipzig 1904.
  • August Stradals life picture. Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934.
  • From our four-legged housemates. Rudolf Heger bookstore, Vienna 1912.

Translations

  • Victor Hugo: Rays and Shadows (Les rayons et les ombres, 1840). Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1897.
  • Victor Hugo: From the Orient (Les orientales, 1829). Fischer, Kassel 1903.
  • Victor Hugo: Dawn of Souls (Les chants du crépuscule, 1835). E. Pierson, Dresden a. ibid. [1911].
  • Arthur de Gobineau: Alexander of Macedonia (Alexandre le Macédonia, 1847). Kamönenverlag, Leipzig a. a. 1914.

Web links

Wikisource: Hildegard Stradal  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hildegard Stradal: August Stradals Lebensbild . Publishing house Paul Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934, p. 16 .
  2. ↑ Hildegard Stradal: August Stradals Lebensbild . Publishing house Paul Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934, p. 79 .
  3. ↑ Hildegard Stradal: August Stradals Lebensbild . Publishing house Paul Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934, p. 75 .
  4. ↑ Hildegard Stradal: August Stradals Lebensbild . Publishing house Paul Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934, p. 20 .
  5. ↑ Christina Meglitsch: Vienna's forgotten concert halls. The myth of the Bösendorfer, Ehrbar and Streicher halls . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 2005, ISBN 3-631-53014-5 , pp. 109 .
  6. ↑ Markus Lehmann: Five songs based on poems by Hildegard Stradal. For mezzo-soprano and piano. WV 1, 1934 . Astoria-Verlag, Düsseldorf-Benrath 2002, ISBN 0-203-80207-1 .
  7. ^ Ludwig Ferdinand of Bavaria: The clouds hang down gray. Poem by Hildegard Stradal. For 1 deep voice with accompanist. d. Pianoforte . Seiling, Munich.
  8. ↑ Hildegard Stradal: August Stradals Lebensbild . Publishing house Paul Haupt, Bern u. a. 1934, p. 23 .
personal data
SURNAME Stradal, Hildegard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Zweigelt, Hildegard (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian singer (mezzo-soprano), writer and translator
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1948
Place of death Halle (Saale)