Maria Jeritza (born Marie Jedličková; 6 October 1887 – 10 July 1982) was a dramatic soprano, long associated with 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 ...

(1912–1934 and 1950–1953) and the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

(1921–1932 and 1951). Her rapid rise to fame, beauty and personality earned her the nickname "The Moravian Thunderbolt".

Biography

Jeritza was born in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

, then part of the

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, in 1887 as Marie Jedličková. She was trained at the Brno Conservatory, and later was a pupil of Estelle Liebling in New York City. In 1910, she made her debut as ''Elsa'', in Wagner's '' Lohengrin'', at

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

. The Emperor Franz Josef heard her and immediately ordered that she be offered a contract at the Imperial Hofoper, Vienna. She created the roles of ''Blanchefleur'' in Kienzl's

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 ...

'' Der Kuhreigen'' (1911), Ariadne in Strauss's '' Ariadne auf Naxos'' (1912), the Empress in his '' Die Frau ohne Schatten'' (1919), and Hariette/Juliette in Korngold's '' Die tote Stadt'' (Hamburg, 1920), though later became famous for her leading role of Marietta/Marie in the same opera in its January 1921 Vienna premiere, which was also the role in which she debuted at the

on 19 November 1921. On 16 November 1926, she starred in the title role of Puccini's '' Turandot'' in its North American premiere at the Metropolitan, where she also created the title or leading soprano roles in Janáček's '' Jenůfa'' (1924), Wolf-Ferrari's '' I gioielli della Madonna'' (1925), Korngold's '' Violanta'' (1927), Richard Strauss's '' Die Ägyptische Helena'' (1928), and Suppé's ''Boccaccio'' (1931) and ''Donna Juanita'' (1932). She was as popular at the Metropolitan as in Vienna, especially as Tosca,

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 ...

and Massenet's Thaïs. She appeared in an early sound film Grossfürstin Alexandra for which Franz Lehár wrote the song 'Du und ich sind für einander bestimmt'. Jeritza made a number of 78-rpm recordings which testify to the high quality of her voice. Many of these recordings have been released on CD.

Personal life and death

After a two-year marriage to a man named Friedrich Wiener, she married an Austrian, Leopold Salvator Freiherr Popper von Podhragy (1886-1986). She married her third husband in 1935, Hollywood mogul Winfield R. Sheehan, who died in 1945. In 1948, she married New Jersey businessman Irving Seery and moved to a mansion in the Forest Hill neighborhood of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, where she lived until her death in 1982, at the age of 94 in Orange, New Jersey. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, New Jersey.

References

External links

* * * Erik Eriksson's Brief Biography of Maria Jeritza* Time Magazin
review
of Jeritza's Girl of the Golden West in 1929 in NY {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeritza, Maria 1887 births 1982 deaths Musicians from Brno Musicians from the Margraviate of Moravia Singers from Newark, New Jersey Fonotipia Records artists Victor Records artists Österreichischer Kammersänger Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery (North Arlington, New Jersey) Austrian emigrants to the United States Brno Conservatory alumni