Sonja Mottl

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sonja Mottl , maiden name Sonja Sagovac , (born July 4, 1923 in Zagreb , then Kingdom of Yugoslavia ; † June 6, 2014 in Vienna ) was an Austrian opera and operetta singer ( soprano ) of Yugoslav origin.

Life

Training and beginnings

Sonja Mottl received her acting and singing training at the Zagreb Conservatory. There she was u. a. Student of the famous soprano Maria Kostrenčić . Her stage debut took place in 1943, at the age of 20, at the National Theater in Zagreb , as Princess Mi in the Lehár operetta The Land of Smiles . She stayed there until 1945.

In 1945 she moved to the Osijek Theater , where she was a permanent member of the ensemble until 1948. In 1948 she was engaged at the National Theater in Split . In her early years she sang the role of coloratura soprano and coloratura soubrette . In 1952 she went again to the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb, initially again as a coloratura soprano. In the following years she was able to perform there in the lyrical soprano subject with an extensive opera and operetta repertoire. Her Zagreb opera roles included u. a. Oscar in A Masked Ball , Gilda in Rigoletto , Olympia in Hoffmann's Tales , the two soprano roles in Mimì and Musette in La Bohème , the title role in Madama Butterfly and Micaëla in Carmen .

Engagement in Vienna

In 1954 Sonja Mottl became a permanent member of what was then the “ Vienna State Opera in the Volksoper ”, where she made her debut on June 30, 1954 as Laura in Karl Millöcker's operetta Der Bettelstudent . As her second Viennese role followed in September 1954 the Valencienne in the Lehár operetta The Merry Widow . In November 1954 Mottl sang her first Vienna premiere; In the operetta Poland Blood she took on the second soprano role of Wanda. In the 1954/55 season she sang the role of the sorceress Fata Morgana in Prokofiev's opera Die Liebe zu den Drei Orangen . In two performances (in May and October 1955) she was as Nedda in the Verismo one- act play The Bajazzo partner of Helge Rosvaenge as Canio.

At the beginning of the 1955/56 season, Sonja Mottl became a member of the ensemble of the now independent Vienna Volksoper in September 1955 . In the years that followed, Mottl became a celebrated and “popular” operetta diva, including in particular her “dazzling stage appearance”, “unobtrusive erotic charisma”, her voice, her “theatrical intensity” and the ability to find the nuances and tones in dialogue To show the subtext of some dialogue passages made a decisive contribution.

In operetta she sang at the Volksoper a. a. Rosalinde ( Die Fledermaus ), Annina ( One Night in Venice ), Countess Zedlau ( Viennese Blood ), Electress Marie ( The Bird Dealer ), Hanna Glawari ( The Merry Widow ), Madame Pompadour , Sonja ( The Tsarevich ), Angèle ( The Count von Luxemburg ) and Sylva Varescu in Die Csárdásfürstin . In February 1956 she performed the double role Lilli Vanessi / Kate in the musical Kiss me, Kate for the first time at the Vienna Volksoper ; she sang this role, u. a. with Fred Liewehr and Peter Minich as partners, in over 120 performances by April 1971. In August 1959 she sang the Kate in the Italian premiere under the title Baciami Catarina at the Castello di San Giusto in Trieste , with Italo Tajo as a partner. In the 1967/68 season she took over the role of Flora Bervoix in the Verdi opera La Traviata in four performances at the Vienna State Opera, alongside Hilde Güden and Mimi Coertse .

Change of subject

In 1973 Mottl changed her subject to the so-called "character subject" with the role of the widow Begbick in the Weill opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny . Her character roles, which she “freed from the flat comedian cliché”, furnished them “with dry humor” and gave them back “the dignity of old age and a discreet comedy”. In June 1977 she took on the role of Peronella in a new production of the comic opera Boccaccio ; in this work she had previously sung the soprano roles of Beatrice and Isabella.

Her other roles in the character subject included the " antiquity- affine" Countess Eberbach in the comic opera Der Wildschütz , Countess Palmatica Nowalska ( The Begging Student ), Aunt Paula ( The Fireworks ), the rich Countess Stasa Kokozow ( The Count of Luxembourg ) and Madame Palmyra Beaubuisson ( The Opera Ball ). Towards the end of her career, Mottl also took on pure speaking roles, such as Princess Anhilte in Kálmán's operetta Die Csárdásfürstin . From November 1979 she played Mrs. Higgins in the musical My Fair Lady , alternating with Susi Nicoletti , in over 100 performances .

Sonja Mottl appeared in almost 1,400 performances at the headquarters of the Vienna Volksoper, where she was considered an extremely popular artist. She had other appearances with the ensemble of the Wiener Volksoper in guest performances of the Wiener Volksoper in Japan (1979, 1982 and 1985, inter alia as Praskowia in The Merry Widow ), Moscow (1982) and the United States (1984). In 1982 she made a guest appearance at the Bregenz Festival as educator Mirabella in the Strauss operetta Der Zigeunerbaron in a production by Jérôme Savary .

Even after her retirement in 1983, she continued to appear as a guest at the Vienna Volksoper. In February 1988 she took her stage farewell as Mrs. Higgins.

Awards

In 1974 Sonja Mottl was awarded the title “Austrian Chamber Singer ”. In 1983 she was made an honorary member of the Vienna Volksoper.

Private

Sonja Mottl died in June 2014 at the age of 91. Mottl's first marriage was to the Austrian opera singer Kurt Preger († 1960), who, like her, was engaged at the Vienna Volksoper. Since 1981 she was married to the opera singer and director Karl Dönch (1915–1994), who was also director of the Vienna Volksoper from 1973 to 1987. The couple lived in Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria . After Dönch's death, Mottl continued to live in Klosterneuburg until her death, in the end rather withdrawn.

Audio documents

Only a few official audio documents are available from Sonja Mottl. Operetta cross sections have been released on LP by the Donauland brand . There she sings the Valencienne in the Lehár operetta The Merry Widow , with Wilma Lipp (Hanna Glawari), Per Grundén (Danilo) and Rudolf Christ (Camille de Rosillon) as partners.

The Japanese label Denon released two live recordings of the operettas The Merry Widow (1982) and Die Csárdásfürstin (1985) from the Vienna Volksoper's Japan tour, in which Mottl can be heard in speaking roles (Praskowia, Anhilte) .

Radio recordings with Mottl are also documented on the ORF , mostly recordings from the Vienna Volksoper, etc. a. the finale of the opera Der Wildschütz (1977). She also sang the role of Isabella in Boccaccio in an operetta adaptation of Austrian television from 1966 ; their partners were u. a. Peter Minich, Hilde Konetzni , Karl Dönch, Ernst Schütz and Herbert Prikopa .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d KLOSTERNEUBURG, VIENNA: Chamber singer Mottl died . Death report. In: Niederösterreichische Nachrichten of June 25, 2014. Retrieved on January 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chamber singer Sonja Mottl passed away . Press release of the Vienna Volksoper on June 14, 2014. Accessed on January 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Hans-Dieter Roser : Farewell to Sonja Mottl: A Funeral Speech for the Viennese Diva . Funeral speech for Sonja Mottl on June 18, 2014. Accessed on January 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz : It is so green. Musical at the Vienna Volksoper . P. 18f. Amalthea Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-85002-632-1 .
  5. ↑ Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz : It is so green. Musical at the Vienna Volksoper . S. 27. Amalthea Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-85002-632-1 .
  6. ↑ a b Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz : It is so green. Musical at the Vienna Volksoper . S. 167. Amalthea Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-85002-632-1 .
  7. ↑ Apropos music: Karl Dönch - the principal . Program information with titles. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  8. ↑ Ernst Schütz & Sonja Mottl - Be ready, use the time before the die is cast . Detail (1966). Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  9. ↑ Monique Lobasa, Hilde Konetzni & Sonja Mottl - How my heart beats so violently . Detail (1966). Retrieved January 13, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Mottl, Sonja
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sagovac, Sonja (maiden name); Mottl-Preger, Sonja (married name); Mottl-Dönch, Sonja (married name); Mottl-Sagovac, Sonja
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian opera and operetta singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH 4th July 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Zagreb , then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 2014
Place of death Vienna