Karin Branzell

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Karin Maria Branzell (born September 24, 1891 in Stockholm , † December 15, 1974 in Altadena , California , USA ) was a Swedish opera singer ( mezzo-soprano ).

Life

Karin Maria Branzell (her full name at birth) was initially an organist in Stockholm before she trained as a singer. Her teachers included Thekla Hofer in Stockholm, Louis Bachner in Munich and Enrico Rosati in New York.

Karin Branzell made her singing debut in 1912 as a member of the Royal Stockholm Opera in the opera Izëyl by Eugen d'Albert (as Prince Sarvilaka ). In 1918 she moved from Stockholm to Berlin, where she was engaged at the State Opera until 1933 and as Fricka in Die Walküre by Richard Wagner had her first appearance. In 1930 and 1931 the singer was invited to the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. As early as 1926 she was a guest at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, where she was invited again in 1934 and 1938. Guest performances at countless opera houses in Europe and America followed. In 1935 and 1937/1938 Karin Branzell sang at the Covent Garden Opera in London, and in 1941 at the San Francisco Opera . Due to her outstanding success, she was appointed Swedish court singer in 1936.

During her time in Berlin, Karin Branzell entered a continuous engagement at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Here, too, her career as Fricka (1924) began. She remained loyal to the Met until 1942, sang there again in 1944 and finally in the 1950/51 season, at the end of her operatic career. In total, she completed no fewer than 412 performances in 21 roles with the ensemble of the Metropolitan Opera (including tours).

From 1946 to 1950 the Swedish singer gave singing lessons at the Juilliard School , from 1952 to 1958 at the Adelphi School of Music (both New York). Occasionally she still performed in concerts. Her voice has been handed down through numerous recordings, some of which are still available today as CD or MP3 downloads.

Karin Branzell was married to the Swedish painter Einar Eduardsen, who died in 1929. Later she probably married again, because outside of the concert business her name was Branzell-Reinshagen.

Games (selection)

State Opera Berlin

Metropolitan Opera New York

Teatro Colón Buenos Aires

Covent Garden Opera London

Richard Wagner Festival Bayreuth

  • The Ring of the Nibelung (Richard Wagner): Fricka and Waltraute

Discography (selection)

  • Four Famous Contraltos Of The Past (Emmi Leisner, Sigrid Onegin, Karin Branzell, Rosette Anday), CD, Preiser / Naxos, Vienna 1993
  • Lively past - Karin Branzell . CD. Preiser / Naxos, Vienna 1997
  • Living past - Karin Branzell, Vol. 2 . CD. Preiser / Naxos, Vienna 1997
  • Wagner: Scenes & Arias (1925–1943), With Karin Branzell and others, CD, Deutsche Grammophon Centenary Collection 1998
  • Verdissimo II - Great Singers for Verdi, Vol. 1 , With Gina Cigna, Seila Kurz, Karin Branzell, Frances Alda, Elvira de Hidalgo, 2 CDs, History 2001
  • Wagner's Die Walküre (Metropolitan Opera New York 1940). Conductor Erich Leinsdorf, 3 CDs, Guild (Musikwelt Tonträger e.Kfr.) 2002
  • Tristan and Isolde (Metropolitan Opera New York 1935). Conductor Artur Bodanzky, 3 CDs, Westhill Radio Archive 2004
  • Karin Branzell & Martin Oehmann 1924-29 , CD, Hamburg Archive for Singing Art, Hamburg 2004

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.operanews.com
  2. ↑ Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Electronic edition of the third, expanded edition. Directmedia, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-89853-433-2 .
personal data
SURNAME Branzell, Karin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Branzell, Karin Maria (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish opera singer (mezzo-soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH September 24, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH 15th December 1974
Place of death Altadena , California , USA