Marie Elisabeth Zinck née Thomsen (1789–1823) was a Danish actress and

operatic soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

. After initially training at the Royal Danish Ballet school, she made her début at the

Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...

as an actress in 1808. Thanks to her pleasant voice, she increasingly performed in plays with musical roles or in operas and

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s, becoming a firm favourite with her audiences. One of her most successful roles was that of Cherubin in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', both in the play by

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French playwright and diplomat during the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for his three #Figaro plays, Figaro plays, at various times in his life he was also a watc ...

and in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's opera. She performed in a wide variety of productions until her death from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in early 1823, just 33 years old.

Biography

Born on 1 June 1789 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Marie Elisabeth Thomsen was the daughter of the theatre manager Jørgen Thomsen (c.1753–1825) and Louise Elisabeth née Eskildsen (c.1770–1806). In 1813, she married the opera singer Johan Georg Christophersen Zinck (1788–1828). In 1803, Thomsen entered the Royal Theatre's ballet school but transferred to the drama school when it was established by Michael Rosing and Knud Lyne Rahbek in September 1805. As a result, she took part in the school's first presentation in the

Court Theatre A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts general ...

on 11 May 1806 in as a chambermaid in both ''Den gode Fader'' and ''Fruentimmerhævn'', attracting considerable applause. After further successful roles at the drama school, she made her début at the Royal Theatre as the chambermaid Lise in

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

's ''Det farlige Naboskab''. In May 1810, she was engaged by the theatre as a "royal actress". Thanks to her attractive looks, her charm and her pleasant if rather weak voice, she increasingly featured in musical works, becoming a favourite of the theatre's young audiences. She is remembered in particular as the star of

Nicolas Isouard Nicolas Isouard (; also known as ''Nicolò'', ''Nicolò Isoiar'' or ''Nicolò de Malte''; 18 May 1773 – 23 March 1818) was a Franco-Maltese composer. Biography Born in Valletta, Malta, Isouard studied in Rabat or Mdina with Francesco Azopardi ...

's '' Cendrillon'' (1812). In February 1813, she married the tenor Georg Zinck with whom she had frequently performed in the work. Other successes included the title role in

Friedrich Heinrich Himmel Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (November 20, 1765 – June 8, 1814) was a German composer. Biography Himmel was born at Treuenbrietzen in Brandenburg, Prussia, and originally studied theology at Halle before turning to music. During a temporary sta ...

's ''Fanchon'' (1814) and Cherubin in the works of both Beaumarchais and Mozart. Over the years, she starred in a wide variety of plays, operas and operettas, deftly combining her skills as an actress and a singer. Her last appearance was as Rose in C.E.F. Weyse's ''Sovedrikken'' on 18 March 1823. Marie Zinck died in Copenhagen on 6 April 1823 of pneumonia after singing in a cold church. She is buried in

Assistens Cemetery An Assistens Cemetery () is a cemetery that functions as an expansion of another, older cemetery often in relation to a city church. Already by the end of the 17th century, Danish authorities deemed that the conditions for inner-city cemeteries we ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zinck, Marie 1789 births 1823 deaths Actresses from Copenhagen 19th-century Danish actresses Danish stage actresses 19th-century Danish women opera singers Danish operatic sopranos