Minnie Hauk in a cabinet card photograph, ca. 1880 Amalia Mignon Hauck "Minnie" Hauk (November 16, 1851 – February 6, 1929) was an American operatic first

dramatic soprano A dramatic soprano is a type of operatic soprano with a powerful, rich, emotive voice that can sing over, or cut through, a full orchestra. Thicker vocal folds in dramatic voices usually (but not always) mean less agility than lighter voices but a ...

than

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

Early life

She was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on November 16, 1851, the only child of Francis Hauck, a German emigrant, and his American wife. Soon after Minnie's birth the Haucks moved to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, and then to Sumner, Kansas, in 1857. It was later wrongly rumoured that Hauk was the daughter of the financier

Leonard Jerome Leonard Walter Jerome (November 3, 1817 – March 3, 1891) was an American financier in Brooklyn, New York, and the maternal grandfather of Winston Churchill. Early life Leonard Jerome was born in Pompey in Onondaga County, New York, on Novembe ...

, who was a devotee of the opera.

Career

In 1865, Hauk began vocal studies with

Achille Errani Achille Errani (20 August 1823 – 6 January 1897) was an Italian opera singer who also taught that skill in New York City. Early life Errani was born in Faenza, Italy. When seventeen years of age he entered the Milan Conservatory, and studied ...

, who secured her a spot with the Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company. At age fourteen she made her public debut as opera singer in Brooklyn as Amina in ''

La sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'', and a month later, in November 1866, her New York City debut as Prascovia in ''

L'étoile du nord ' (''The North Star'') is an opéra comique in three acts by Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French-language libretto was by Eugène Scribe. The work had its first performance at the Opéra-Comique, Paris, on 16 February 1854. Much of the material, incl ...

''. In the American premiere of Gounod's '' Roméo et Juliette'' (November 15, 1867) she sang Juliette. Hauk sang for the first time in Europe at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, on 26 October 1868, and debuted in Paris in 1869. The soprano then appeared in Italian and German opera at the Grand Opera in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

(1870–1874) and other venues throughout Europe. Hauk interpreted the role

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the ...

, the previously unsuccessful opera by

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

, in a new intensive way for the first time on January 2, 1878 in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The immediate success brought the opera to longlasting fame. She then played the role at the opera's British and American premieres in 1878. Hauk performed

Manon ''Manon'' () is an ''opéra comique'' in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel '' L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut'' by the Abbé Prévost. It was firs ...

at its American premiere in 1885. Her voice became a

of great strength and depth. Hauk stopped to sing intensive opera tours by end of 1893. Hauk's enormous repertory included approximately one hundred roles, and she sang Carmen in four languages.

Later life and death

In 1878 she married Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

writer and traveler. Much of Hauk's fortune was lost during World War I. By 1920 she was thought to be impoverished and was nearly blind. Hauk died at her home near

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label= Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital o ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in 1929.

Notes

References

* Edward T. James,

Janet Wilson James Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

, Paul S. Boyer, ''Notable American women, 1607–1950''.

Radcliffe Col Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

lege, 1971. * *Andreas Dutz and Elisabeth Dutz: ''Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg. Reiseschriftsteller, Wissenschaftler, Lebemann.'' Böhlau-Verlag, Vienna 2017. (comprehensive biography of Minnie Hauk and her husband Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauk, Minnie American stage actresses American operatic sopranos American operatic mezzo-sopranos American people of German descent Singers from New York City 1851 births 1929 deaths 19th-century American women opera singers People from Sumner County, Kansas Singers from Kansas Classical musicians from New York (state)