Ida Basilier-Magelssen (1846–1928) was a Finnish

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical 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 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, who sang in both concerts and opera performances. After a period with the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, she returned to

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

where she was particularly active in 1876–77, singing in 12 different operas for a total of 110 performances at the

Finnish Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...

. She also toured in Germany, France, Russia and Great Britain.

Biography

Born on 10 September 1846 in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, Ida Basilier was the daughter of the landowner Carl Frederik Basilier and Gustava Mathilda Garvoli, a pianist. She was brought up in a musical family in which each of her seven siblings played a musical instrument while she concentrated on singing. After training under

Emilie Mechelin Emilie Mechelin (8 April 1838 – 22 December 1917) was a Finnish operatic soprano and pedagogue. She was the first singing teacher of the Helsinki School of Music (later to become Sibelius Academy). Early life and education Johanna Sofia Emi ...

in Helsinki, when she was 20 she went to Paris where she studied for three years on a state grant. She sang for

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

and the

Empress Eugénie The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

before continuing her studies in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and Germany. She made her début at a concert in Helsinki in 1868. In November 1970, she played Leonora in '' Il trovatore'' in the first full-length opera to be performed in Finnish. In the 1870s, she performed in operas in Finland where together with Emmy Achté she was one of the principal attractions, but she also gained prominence in Sweden (1876) and Great Britain (1877). Key roles included Zerlina in ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'', Rosina in ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( ) is an ''opera buffa'' (comic opera) in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy ' ...

'', Norina in ''

Don Pasquale ''Don Pasquale'' () is a Gaetano Donizetti opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts, with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer. It was based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stefano Pavesi's oper ...

'', Violetta in '' La Traviata'' and Maragrata in ''

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

''. She performed in some 700 operas and concerts in the Scandinavian countries over a ten-year period, in addition to appearances in Paris, Munich and England. In 1878, Basilier married Johan Magelssen, a Norwegian who was editor of ''

Aftenposten (; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen ...

'', and moved to Norway where she performed in a number of operas in

Kristiania Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, an ...

(Oslo) and worked as a voice teacher at the Conservatory. Ida Basilier-Magelssen died in

Hegra HEGRA, which stands for High-Energy-Gamma-Ray Astronomy, was an atmospheric Cherenkov effect, Cherenkov telescope for Gamma-ray astronomy. With its various types of detectors, HEGRA took data between 1987 and 2002, at which point it was dismantl ...

, Norway, on 23 May 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Basilier-Magelssen, Ida 19th-century Finnish women opera singers Finnish operatic sopranos 1846 births 1928 deaths People from Nivala Finnish expatriates in Norway Sopranos from the Russian Empire People from the Grand Duchy of Finland