Aurelia Litsner De Fere (ca. 1835 – October 7, 1917) was a Hungarian musician and voice-trainer. For many years a teacher of voice, in her youth, De Fére spent a good deal of time as a student in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, winning a first prize at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. In the United States, she opened a conservatory of music in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and became prominent in the musical life of that city. She was a recipient of the palm of "Officier d' Academie" in Paris, France, and a gold medal as the best singer by the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

Early years and education

Aurelia Litsner was born in Hungary. She was educated in Germany, and from her earliest youth displayed wonderful aptitude and taste for music and singing. When she was fourteen years old, she appeared in public for the first time, having been chosen to sing a solo part at a festival in Mainz, Germany. The success she achieved on that occasion was such that it was determined that she should pursue a musical career. She presented herself at the customary examination of the National Conservatory of Music, of

, and was at once admitted. After four years of study, she won two second prizes for singing and opera, and the next year, she obtained two first prizes also for singing and opera, which were unanimously awarded to her. A gold medal, yearly awarded to the best singer by the

, was also bestowed upon her.

Career

Having completed her studies, she was engaged as ''

prima donna In opera or ''commedia dell'arte'', a prima donna (; Italian for 'first lady'; : ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the ''prime'' roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pe ...

'' in the opera of Paris,

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

, and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

. She sang in Belgium and Germany, and, having returned to her native country, she was received with enthusiasm at the National Opera of Pesth. Later, she sang with great success in the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, and finally went to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she resolved to devote herself to the instruction of singing. De Fere made a study of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and constantly sought to improve her method, which sought the perfection of the vocal instrument and of the quality of the sound. She settled in New York in 1876 and taught vocal music there until 1883, when she moved to

and formed her own conservatory of music. In New York, she taught in the schools of Mrs. Sylvanus Reed, of the Misses Charbonnier, of the Charliers and of Dr. and Mrs. Van Norman. She combined the French and Italian methods of singing in her system. Her husband, Eugene De Fere, a graduate of the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

, assisted her in the conduct and management of the De Fere Conservatory. She won the palm of "Officier d' Academie " in Paris, France, a distinction enjoyed by only one other woman in the United States at the time,

Minnie Hauk Amalia Mignon Hauck (November 16, 1851 – February 6, 1929), commonly known as Minnie Hauk, was an American operatic first dramatic soprano than mezzo-soprano. Early life She was born in New York City on November 16, 1851, the only child of Fr ...

Personal life

De Fere made her home in Brooklyn. She died at her home on Sunday, October 7, 1917, at the age of eighty-two. She was survived by one son, Paul Eugene De Fere (b. 1868, Paris.

References

Attribution

* *

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:De Fere, Aurelia Litsner 1917 deaths 1830s births 19th-century Hungarian women opera singers Conservatoire de Paris alumni Women singers from Austria-Hungary