Etelka Gerster (25 June 1855,

Košice Košice ( , ; german: Kaschau ; hu, Kassa ; pl, Коszyce) is the largest city in eastern Slovakia. It is situated on the river Hornád at the eastern reaches of the Slovak Ore Mountains, near the border with Hungary. With a population of app ...

20 August 1920, Pontecchio) was a Hungarian

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female 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 "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

. She debuted in Italy in 1876 and sang in London the following year. In 1878, she was performing in the Academy of Music where she was considered one of the leading singers of her time. That year, she married Pietro Gardini.Gerster, Etelka
in '' Who's Who in America'' (1901-1902 edition), via archive.org She and Gardini subsequently had a child, after which Gerster never sang professionally again. From 1896 until 1917, she taught singing in Berlin. Among her students were

Ilona Durigo Ilona Durigo (13 May 1881 – 25 December 1943) was a Hungarian classical contralto and an academic voice teacher. She appeared internationally, mostly in concert, singing ''Lieder'' and oratorios. She is known for singing Lieder that Othmar Schoec ...

, Therese Schnabel,

Matja von Niessen-Stone Matja von Niessen-Stone (December 28, 1870 — June 8, 1948) was a Russian-born German concert singer. She sang with the Metropolitan Opera from 1908 to 1910. Early life Matja von Niessen was born in Moscow, the daughter of Hermann von Niessen, ...

, and Lotte Lehmann. Her daughter married Fritz Reiner.

References

Sources

*''Enciklopedia Slovenska''. II. zväzok. Bratislava, 1978. VEDA *Seeger, Horst: ''Opernlexikon''. 3. ... überarb. ... Aufl. Berlin, 1986. Henschelverlag.

External links

Etelka Gerster (1855-1920)
(Wayback Machine) *
Luminous-Lint on GersterEtelka Gerster(Gardini)
portrait by Jose Mora 1855 births 1920 deaths Hungarian operatic sopranos Musicians from Košice Place of birth missing 19th-century Hungarian women opera singers {{Hungary-opera-singer-stub