Anni Frind (3 February 1900 – 8 April 1987) was one of the most highly recorded

lyric soprano A lyric soprano is a type of operatic soprano voice that has a warm quality with a bright, full timbre that can be heard over an orchestra. The lyric soprano voice generally has a higher tessitura than a soubrette and usually plays ingenues and ot ...

s in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during the 1920s and 1930s. Anni Frind was born into a German family in Nixdorf, a small town in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

(now

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Career

She made her debut in 1922 at the

Volksoper Berlin The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and dedi ...

and went on to sing leading soprano roles in both

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 ...

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 ...

at the

Munich State Opera The Bavarian State Opera () is a German opera company based in Munich. Its main venue is the Nationaltheater München, and its orchestra the Bavarian State Orchestra. History The parent ensemble of the company was founded in 1653, under Ele ...

, the

Dresden State Opera The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the T ...

, the German Opera House in Berlin and other major European cities.''The New York Times'' obituary: Anni Frind
/ref>''Orlando Sentinel'' obituary: Anni Frind
/ref> After the successful premiere of

Ralph Benatzky Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957), born in Mährisch Budwitz ( Moravské Budějovice) as Rudolph Franz rantišekJosef Benatzky, was an Austrian composer of Moravian origin. He composed operas and operettas, such as '' Casanova'' ...

's operetta '' Casanova'' in 1928, her energies were devoted mainly to operetta; and the ever-popular

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

recording of "The Nuns' Chorus" (comp.

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

/arr. Ralph Benatzky) was produced.''Gramophone'', 1979
/ref>Internet Archive "The Nuns‘ Chorus" by Anni Frind

Großes Schauspielhaus The Großes Schauspielhaus (Great Theater) was a theater in Berlin, Germany, designed by architect Hans Poelzig for theater director Max Reinhardt. The structure was built as a market hall in 1867 and then served as a circus and event venue. Poel ...

, 1929 She appeared as Adele in

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

's production of ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'' 200 times.

Retirement from professional singing and later life

Anni Frind retired from professional singing at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, subsequently marrying. At the end of the war she sang for Allied soldiers at the front and worked as a volunteer nurse. Anni Frind-Sperling moved to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

in 1951, and became a singing teacher at

Newcomb College H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College was the coordinate women's college of Tulane University, located in New Orleans, in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was founded by Josephine Louise Newcomb in 1886 in memory of her daughter. Newcomb was the ...

Tulane University. She died 1987 in New Orleans aged 87.

References

1900 births 1987 deaths German operatic sopranos Sudeten German people Czechoslovak emigrants Immigrants to Germany 20th-century German women opera singers Singers from New Orleans Tulane University faculty Immigrants to the United States People from Děčín District Centaur Records artists {{Germany-opera-singer-stub