Maria Albertina Gelhaar née Laurin (1858-1920) was a Swedish

operatic 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 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

. She made her debut in September 1881 at Stockholm's Nya Teatern in

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 ...

's one-act opera ''

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 ...

''. In February 1883, she appeared for the first time at 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 ...

as Zerlina in Mozart's ''

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 ...

''. Engaged by the company until 1888, her roles included Fiametta in

Franz von Suppé Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppé (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A c ...

's ''

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...

'', Papagena in Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' and Mercedes in

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, '' Carmen'', which has become ...

's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

''.

Biography

Born in Stockholm on 4 August 1858, Maria Albertina Laurin was the daughter of the clock factory owner Carl Fredrik Laurin and his first wife Henriette née Moberg. She studied voice under Wilhelmina Gelhaar and from 1876 to 1889 under

Julius Günther Julius Günther (1 March 1818 – 22 March 1904) was a Swedish opera singer, choral conductor and voice teacher in Stockholm. Biography Julius Günther was born in Gothenburg, the son of organist Georg Günther. He began a career with the Älvsb ...

at the Royal Swedish Conservatory. In 1886, she married Stockholm's postmaster, Tom Otto Wilhelm Gelhaar, with whom she had a daughter, the opera singer Signe Gelhaar-Bågo. In September 1882, she made her debut at Stockholm's Nya Teater as Silvia in Mozart's ''Der Schauspieldirektor'' and went on to take the role of Fiametta in

's ''

'' and that of Maritana in

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

's comic opera ''

Don César de Bazan ''Don César de Bazan'' is an opéra comique in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Adolphe d'Ennery, Philippe-François Pinel " Dumanoir" and Jules Chantepie, based on the play by d'Ennery and Dumanoir, which was first perform ...

''. On 13 February 1883, she appeared for the first time at the Royal Swedish Opera as Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni''. The following April she performed the role of Papagena in Mozart's ''

'' and in September appeared

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

's ''

Un giorno di regno ''Un giorno di regno, ossia Il finto Stanislao'' (''A One-Day Reign, or The Pretend Stanislaus'', but often translated into English as ''King for a Day'') is an operatic '' melodramma giocoso'' in two acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto ...

''. Engaged by the company from 1883 to 1888, roles included Marcedes in ''Carmen'', Zobeide in

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally whe ...

's ''

Le maçon ' (French for ''The Mason'') is an ''opéra comique'' in three acts by Daniel Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Germain Delavigne. It premiered at the Opéra-Comique Salle Feydeau in Paris on 3 May 1825. It was to become Auber's first ...

'' and Angelina in

Luigi Cherubini Maria Luigi Carlo Zenobio Salvatore Cherubini ( ; ; 8 or 14 SeptemberWillis, in Sadie (Ed.), p. 833 1760 – 15 March 1842) was an Italian Classical and Romantic composer. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethov ...

's ''

Les deux journées ''Les deux journées, ou Le porteur d'eau'' (''The Two Days, or The Water Carrier'') is an opera in three acts by Luigi Cherubini with a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly. It takes the form of an opéra comique, meaning not that the subject matter i ...

''. Maria Gelhaar died in Stockholm in 1920.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelhaar, Maria 1858 births 1920 deaths Actresses from Stockholm Swedish operatic sopranos 19th-century Swedish opera singers