Maria Anna/Anna Marie "Nanny" Adamberger (23 October 1752 – 5 November 1807), born Jaquet, was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n actress. She played ''ingénue'' roles in comedies and originated the role of Madame Vogelsang in ''

Der Schauspieldirektor ' (''The Impresario''), Köchel catalogue, K. 486, is a comic ''singspiel'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, set to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, an Austrian ''Schauspieldirektor''. Originally, it was written because of "the imperial command ...

'' ("The Impresario") by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Career

Adamberger received her training from her father, actor Karl J. Jacquet (1726–1813). She started playing in the ''Theater nächst der Burg'' ("Theatre Next to the Castle") in 1760, at the age of 8, and became a member of the company in 1768, aged 16. After playing some

tragic A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsis, or a "pain ...

roles and not being satisfied with the success she achieved in them, she decided to perform only in

comedies Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Gr ...

. She became known as an excellent ''

ingénue The ''ingénue'' (, , ) is a stock character in literature, film and a role type in the theater, generally a girl or a young woman, who is endearingly innocent. ''Ingénue'' may also refer to a new young actress or one typecast in such role ...

'' playing the roles of

naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

or lively and whimsical young women in comedies and achieved considerable success and fame. In 1786, she originated the spoken role of Madame Vogelsang in Woflgang Amadeus Mozart's ("The Impresario"), playing opposite of her husband as Monsieur Vogelsang. She retired in 1798, aged 46, her last role being that of Gurli in ("Indians in England"). Adamberger remained a favourite of audiences throughout her whole career, and contemporary Viennese poets such as

Heinrich Joseph von Collin Heinrich Joseph von Collin (1771–1811), Austrian dramatist, was born in Vienna, on 26 December 1771. He received a legal education and entered the Austrian ministry of finance where he found speedy promotion. In 1805 and in 1809, when Austria w ...

wrote many poems praising her. She was one of the first actors whose picture was included in the ("Gallery of Honour") of the company, depicting her in her role as Rofine in ("The Lawyer and the Peasant").

Ernst Brandes Ernst Brandes (3 October 1758 – 13 May 1810) was a Hannoverian lawyer, official, writer, and scholar. Brandes witnessed the French Revolution as a journalist. Influenced by Edmund Burke, he is regarded by commentators as a voice of conser ...

wrote about her that "it would not be possible" to play a mischievous peasant woman or a naughty city girl in a "truer and more endearing" way. He described her as charming with a "gracefully built" body and a pleasant face, her facial expressions as admirable. She also had a technique for delivering confessions that her character did not want to make: she bit down on the words in a very natural way. According to Mener, she belonged "only in ", a specifically German and

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

type of comedy as opposed to the French courtly comedies of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

and the coarser genres of ("farce with singing") and . He also asserted that whoever saw her play in "forgot that there could be anything outside of the comedy" and that she could "entertain the mind, move the heart and delight the soul". He agreed that she was "unique, peculiar, inimitable and charming".

Personal life

Adamberger was born on 23 October 1752 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria (; ) was a major Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empire's southeastern periph ...

, the daughter of

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

actor

Karl J. Jaquet Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

(1726–1813). She had a younger sister, Katharina (1760–1786). from an early age, her father wanted her to become an actress, and trained her himself. She married operatic

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

(Josef) Valentin Adamberger "Valentino Adamonti" (1743–1804) in 1781 and had one daughter with him, actress Antonie "Toni" von Arnet (born Adamberger) (1790–1867), born 31 December 1790. Maria was widowed in 1804 and died on 5 November 1807 in Vienna, aged 55.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamberger, Maria Anna 1752 births 1804 deaths Actresses from Vienna 18th-century Austrian actresses