Catharine Elisabeth Frydendahl (née Møller) (30 November 1760 – 30 November 1831) was a Danish

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

, and the

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 ...

of Danish opera in the 18th century.

Life and career

The child of the

glove A glove is a garment covering the hand, with separate sheaths or openings for each finger including the thumb. Gloves protect and comfort hands against cold or heat, damage by friction, abrasion or chemicals, and disease; or in turn to provide a ...

maker Hans Jacob Möller, she became a student in the singing school 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 ...

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 ...

in 1776. She debuted in 1777, and quickly became regarded as one of the greatest talents within Danish opera; it is considered that she and Michael Rosing were prime influences in making it possible to use native actors to play

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abou ...

in Denmark in the 18th century. She was also one of the first Danish singers to give concerts. Her voice was nevertheless thought to be a great undeveloped talent by experts, a judgement given as late as 1793, on a study trip to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. She was also active as an actor, though she was not considered as good in this field. As a person, she was described as a "difficult

diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

", who argued with the management and plotted against her colleagues. She had a relationship with General von Eickstedt, who was one of the Theatre's directors, and it was thought that, in 1780, she caused her greatest rival, Caroline Frederikke Müller, to leave Denmark. Indeed, in 1800, she and her husband were placed in jail after a conflict with the Theatre. She retired from the Royal Danish theatre in 1821, and gave her last ever concert in 1823. Catarine was from 1789 married to the court-violinist Jörgen Berthelsen and 1797 with the actor

Jørgen Peter Frydendahl Jørgen is a Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese masculine given name cognate to George (given name), George People with the given name Jørgen * Jørgen Aall (1771–1833), Norwegian ship-owner and politician * Jørgen Andersen (1886–1973), Norwegi ...

References

Biographical detail
at ''KVInfo'' website 1760 births 1831 deaths 18th-century Danish women opera singers 19th-century Danish women opera singers Singers from Copenhagen {{Denmark-opera-singer-stub