Zdenka Fassbender

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Zdenka Fassbender

Zdenka Faßbender (born December 12, 1879 in Tetschen , † March 14, 1954 in Munich ; also Zdenka Hanfstaengl , Zdenka Anna Fassbenderová ) was a Czech-German opera singer ( soprano ).

Life

She attended the Prague Conservatory , where she trained as a stage singer with Sophie Loewe-Destinn. In 1899 she made her debut at the Karlsruhe Court Theater as Rachel in La juive by Jacques Fromental Halévy . She soon achieved success as an interpreter of highly dramatic roles.

On June 7, 1903, she took over the title role at the premiere of the opera Ilsebill by Friedrich Klose . In Karlsruhe she met the conductor Felix Mottl . When he was appointed to the Munich Court Opera in 1904 , Faßbender followed him there in 1905.

In Munich she was Mottl's partner, whom she only married on his deathbed in 1911, as his first wife Henriette Mottl-Standthartner did not consent to a divorce. After his death, she married the art publisher Edgar Hanfstaengl (1883–1958, eldest son of Edgar Hanfstaengl ) in 1920 , a second marriage.

At the Munich Court Opera, called the Bavarian State Opera since 1918 , Faßbender was one of the most prominent singers for years. She was particularly regarded as an excellent Wagner interpreter, for example as Venus in Tannhäuser , Ortrud in Lohengrin , Isolde in Tristan and Isolde , Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen and Kundry in Parsifal . She sang other important roles as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana , Iphigenie in Gluck's Iphigenie auf Tauris , the Alceste von Gluck, as Valentine in Die Hugenotten von Meyerbeer , Dido in Les Troyens von Berlioz , Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew by Hermann Goetz , the Minneleide in The rose from the love garden by Hans Pfitzner , Gundula in Der Bergsee by Julius Bittner and Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio .

When Richard Strauss wanted to perform his opera Elektra in Munich in 1909 , Faßbender took over the title role at his request. She also appeared in the Munich premieres of the operas Tiefland by Eugen d'Albert (1908, as Martha), Tosca (1909, title role), Der Rosenkavalier (1911, as Marschallin), The poor Heinrich von Pfitzner (1913, as Hilde) and Mona Lisa by Max von Schillings (1917, title role) with.

Guest performances have taken her to the Vienna Court Opera (1904), the Berlin Court Opera (1909) and often to Stuttgart, the Court Theaters of Wiesbaden and Mannheim and the Cologne Opera House. She also took part in the Wagner-Mozart Festival from 1907 to 1910. In 1910 and 1913 she sang Elektra and Isolde in London under Sir Thomas Beecham and from 1912 to 1914 in the performances of the Ring cycle at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.

In 1924 she announced her resignation from the stage. In 1928 she appeared again at the Munich State Opera as Elektra. Until 1931 she was a member of the State Opera. Zdenka Faßbender is buried in the old cemetery in Tutzing.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Franz Hanfst e ngl" according to Karl-Josef coach , Leo belt : Large Sängerlexikon . who follows this biography , "Edgar Hanfstaengl" according to Zdenka Faßbender in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
personal data
SURNAME Fassbender, Zdenka
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hanfstaengl, Zdenka; Fassbenderová, Zdenka Anna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech-German opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH December 12, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Tetschen
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1954
Place of death Munich