Semiha Berksoy (24 May 1910 – 15 August 2004) was a Turkish opera singer and paintress.

Early life

Semiha Berksoy was born in Çengelköy, Istanbul. Her mother was a painter. Semiha studied music and the visual arts at Istanbul Conservatory.Sebnem Arsu (August 23, 2004
"Semiha Berksoy, 94, Turkish Star of Opera and Art, Dies"
''The New York Times''.

Career

Berksoy started her acting career with the role of ''Semiha'' in the first Turkish sound movie ''İstanbul Sokaklarında'' directed by Muhsin Ertuğrul in 1931. She was cast in operettas in Istanbul theaters early in her career. She sang in the first Turkish opera ''Özsoy'' in 1934 (commissioned by Kemal Atatürk, composed by

Adnan Saygun Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a master ...

). She was honoured as the First Turkish Opera Singer and awarded with the opportunity to go to

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Music Academy for further training. She started her international singing career in 1934, performing in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, becoming known as a Wagnerian soprano. In 1939, for the 75th birthday of

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...

, she sang the role of ''Ariadne'' in ''

Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Opus number, Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one o ...

'', becoming the first Turkish prima donna to perform on stage in Europe. Back in

, she worked with

Carl Ebert Carl Anton Charles Ebert (20 February 1887 – 14 May 1980), was an actor, stage director and arts administrator. Ebert's early career was as an actor, training under Max Reinhardt and becoming one of the leading actors in his native Germany dur ...

helping him in his efforts to create the

Turkish State Opera and Ballet Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and m ...

. This initiative lead to the creation of the Experimental Stage of the Ankara State Conservatory 1940. She retired from the Istanbul Opera in 1972. She was decorated with the "Atatürk Opera Award" at the 50th anniversary ceremonies commemorating the introduction of women's rights to vote and to be elected. She received the title of "

State Artist State Artist ( tr, Devlet Sanatçısı, also sometimes translated as "National Artist") is an honorary title granted to prominent artists by the government of Turkey for their contributions to the Turkish culture. It was established in 1971 by the P ...

" in Turkey in 1998. Following her retirement, she remained active mostly as a theater artist. Four years before her death, at the age of 90, she appeared in a dramatic scene singing ''Liebestod'' in Robert Wilson's opera ''The Days Before: Death, Destruction and Detroit III'' at the

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

(1999). She died in Istanbul at the age of 94 due to complications related with heart surgery. She is survived by her daughter, Zeliha Berksoy.

Tribute

On 24 May 2019, on Berksoy’s 109th birthday, she was honored with a Google Doodle.

Filmography

* ''İstanbul Sokaklarında'' ("In the Streets of Istanbul"), (1931) * ''Söz Bir, Allah Bir'', (1933) * ''Büyük Sır'' ("The Big Secret"), (1956) * ''Karanlık Sular'' ("The Serpent's Tale"), (1993) * ''Boulevard Bio'', (2002)

References

External links