Raquel Rastenni (21 August 1915 – 17 August 1998), born Anna Rachel Rastén, was a Danish- Russian singer. She was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, and grew up in an apartment in the poor part of the city. Her Jewish parents immigrated to Denmark from Russia at the start of the 20th century. Her father was a tailor, and her mother was a seamstress. She started her career as a dancer in the

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; ), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a coastal city in northeastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 63,953 on 1 January 2025, making it the 23rd most populated municipality in Denmark. Helsin ...

Revue in 1936. She debuted as a singer in 1938 by being broadcast on radio. She sang with various orchestras through the early 1940s and in 1940 formed her own swing trio. That same year her first record was released. She also toured during these years in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. As a

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

, she fled Denmark in October 1943 along with her family, as the country had come under

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

occupation. She spent the rest of the war years in Sweden where she continued having great success with her career, performing with orchestras and in

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

s and varieties. Her jazz singing style has been compared to that of

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

. She returned to Denmark in 1945 and became Denmark's leading female

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

singer. Among her successes were ''Vovsen i vinduet'' (" (How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?") in 1953 and ''Heksedansen'' ("The Witch Dance") in 1960. Her best-selling song was ''Hele ugen alene'' ("Seven lonely days") in 1953, which sold over 120,000 copies. She was the first artist in Denmark to earn a

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. In addition to her

Danish language Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...

recordings, she recorded also in Swedish,

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. After qualifying in the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix to represent Denmark at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

, she participated in

Eurovision Song Contest 1958 The Eurovision Song Contest 1958 was the third edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (NTS), the contest, originally known as the () was held on Wednesday 12 March 1958 ...

, where she sang Jeg rev et blad ud af min Dagbog] (''I Tore A Page Out Of My Diary''). She ranked number 8. She participated once more in the Danish Melodi Grand Prix, singing a duet with Grethe Sønck entitled ''Hjemme hos os'' ("At our home"). In the late 1980s, she retired from public life. She died in Skodsborg in the northern part of Sjælland at the age of 82.

References

*Laursen, Carsten Michael (1999). 'Top-Pop: Navne i dansk pop 1950-2000''"' ("Top-Pop: Names in Danish Pop 1950-2000"). L&R Fakta. .

External links

*
''Det Virtuelle Musikbibliotek'' (The Virtual Music Library) article on Raquel Rastenni, in English, with photo)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rastenni, Raquel 1915 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Danish Jews 20th-century Danish male singers Danish Ashkenazi Jews Danish people of Russian-Jewish descent Dansk Melodi Grand Prix winners Jewish women singers Musicians from Copenhagen Sonet Records artists Yiddish-language singers of Denmark Hebrew-language singers of Denmark Swedish-language singers of Denmark Eurovision Song Contest entrants