Emmy Destinn
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Emmy Destinn ( (); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
tic dramatic soprano. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries.


Biography

Destinn was born Emilie Pavlína Věnceslava Kittlová in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
, in what was then
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
. Her family soon left Prague and until the age of 14, Emmy grew up in Milešov, where her father owned mines. In 1892, she was sent to a German boarding school in Prague to learn German, playing the piano and the violin, but Anna Adamcová, a member of the National Theatre, advised her to improve her singing. Her voice teacher since age thirteen had been Marie von Dreger Loewe-Destinn, and the young singer began using her teacher's surname as a tribute. She was let go after the short engagement at the Dresden Opera and declined by Prague National Theatre in 1897. She debuted on 19 July 1898 at the Berlin Court Opera as Santuzza in '' Cavalleria rusticana''. She made such progress that the intendant of the Berlin Court Opera engaged her at once when she was brought to intendant's notice. She was only nineteen at the time, but her voice and her acting soon won the Berlin public. Her engagement in Berlin lasted until 27 October 1909. She sang in 54 operas, including 12 premieres. Her fame became international in 1901 when she was invited to sing the part of Senta in '' Der fliegende Holländer'' at Germany's Bayreuth Festspielhaus. She returned to sing the same role the next year. Destinn made her London debut at Covent Garden's Royal Opera House on 2 May 1904, as Donna Anna in ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
''. She appeared there in several operas for the next two seasons, including the London premiere of '' Madama Butterfly'' with Caruso. Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1908 with an acclaimed performance of '' Aida'', after she was released from her contract with the Berlin Court Opera. Two years later at the Met, she created the role of Minnie in the premiere of Puccini's '' La fanciulla del West'', again opposite Caruso, and under the direction of
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
. While she was highly successful in the lighter roles of Wagner's operas, her '' spinto'' voice—although large in size, with a ringing top register—was better suited to German music of a less declamatory type. She also excelled in the French part of Carmen, in which she was said to rival Calvé, and in the Italian roles of Aida, Madama Butterfly and Leonora (in '' Il trovatore''). Destinn's career suffered a fatal blow in World War I. She returned to her homeland after the start of the war in 1914, but her links with the patriotic Czech resistance caused her passport to be revoked. She was interned at her chateau for the remainder of the conflict. By the time that she returned to the Met in 1919, her voice had become rusty and she had been replaced in the hearts of New York audiences by a new generation of singers, although she did still continue to sing with the company until 1921.


Last years and death

Destinn returned to Czechoslovakia, where she married Joseph Halsbach, a Czech air-force officer, in 1923. She retired from the stage in 1926, and died on 28 January 1930 from a stroke in
České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...
, Czechoslovakia, a month before her 52nd birthday. She is interred in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague.


Legacy

Her likeness appeared in 1996 on the 2,000 Czech koruna banknote."Czech Bank Issues Updated 2,000 Koruna"
by Kerry Rodgers, numismaster.com (27 August 2007)
The main-belt
asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
6583 Destinn is named after her.


References


External links


Biography, discography, bibliography
from the Kapralova Society
The Emmy Destinn Foundation
with a biography

by Alan Bilgora for Prima Voce * {{DEFAULTSORT:Destinn, Emmy 1878 births 1930 deaths Czech operatic sopranos Czech women writers Czech poets Singers from Prague Fonotipia Records artists Czech women in World War I 19th-century Czech women opera singers 20th-century Czech women opera singers Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery