Luise Jaide (also Louise Jaide-Schlosser) (26 March 1842 – 2 January 1914) was a German

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 ...

tic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

who had an active career during the latter half of the 19th century. Among her signature roles were Amneris in '' Aida'', Azucena in '' Il trovatore'', Frau Reich in ''

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

'', Idamante in ''

Idomeneo (Italian for ''Idomeneus, King of Crete, or, Ilia and Idamante''; usually referred to simply as ''Idomeneo'', Köchel catalogue, K. 366) is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Vares ...

'', Irmentraud in '' Der Waffenschmied'', and Mary in '' The Flying Dutchman''. She is best remembered today for playing several roles in the first complete presentation of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's '' The Ring Cycle'' at the very first

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival () is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of stage works by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived and promoted the idea of a special ...

in 1876.Jaide, Luise Biography at operissimo.com (in German)
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Biography

Born Luise Jaide in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

, Jaide studied at the Stuttgart Conservatory. She made her professional opera debut in 1859 as Pierotto in

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic music, Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''be ...

's '' Linda di Chamounix'' at the Dresden Court Theater under the name Louise Orth. Subsequent engagements took her to the Municipal Theater of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and the German Opera Theater in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

. From 1861 to 1862, she was committed to the Staatsoper Hannover and she performed at the Stadttheater Regensburg from 1862 to 1865. She returned to Darmstadt in 1865, where she remained for the next twelve years, performing under the name of Louise Jaide. In 1872, Richard Wagner heard Jaide perform in Darmstadt and was very impressed by her vocal and dramatic abilities. He invited her to take part in the first presentation of the complete Ring Cycle at the Bayreuth Festival in 1876. This was the first time that the third and fourth operas in the Ring cycle, ''

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

'' and ''

Götterdämmerung ' (; ''Twilight of the Gods''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86D, is the last of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). I ...

'', were heard. Jaide played Erda in ''Siegfried'' at its première on August 16, 1876, and she played Waltraute in ''Götterdämmerung'' at its première on August 17, 1876. She also sang the role of Waltraute in Wagner's ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'' as part of the first complete Ring cycle on August 14, 1876. As a guest artist Jaide appeared at the Staatsoper Stuttgart (1873), the opera house in Wiesbaden (1874), the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

(1874 and 1877), and the Oper Frankfurt (1875). From 1878 to 1879, Jaide was a member of the opera house in Bremen. From 1879 to 1889, she was committed to the opera house in

. From 1889 to 1890, she was a principal artist at the Vlaamse Opera, after which she retired from the stage. After her opera career ended, Jaide dedicated herself to teaching aspiring opera singers in Darmstadt.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaide, Luise 1842 births 1914 deaths 19th-century German women opera singers German operatic mezzo-sopranos Musicians from Darmstadt State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni