IRENE EDEN (MUNICH,
1885 - BADEN-BADEN, 1975)
Her real name was Irene Edenhofer. She studied singing with Mrs.
Flam-Plomiënsky in Berlin and with Teresa Arkel in Milan. She made her debut in
1911 at the Zurich City Theater, where she remained until 1914. During this
period, she sang a wide variety of roles, including Martha in Flotow’s Martha,
Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, the Queen of the
Night in Die Zauberflöte, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Gilda in
Rigoletto, Leonore in Il trovatore, Violetta in La traviata, the Baroness in
Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz, Marie in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, Nedda in
Pagliacci, the four heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Philine in Thomas’s
Mignon, and Zerbinetta in Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos.
From 1915 to 1916 she was engaged at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and
from 1916 to 1924 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. In 1920 she made a guest
appearance at the Vienna State Opera. From 1924 to 1928 she was a member of the
Berlin State Opera. She also appeared in important premieres: in 1916 at the
Deutsche Oper Berlin as Beatrice in Felix von Weingartner’s Dame Kobold; in
1923 at Mannheim in the German premiere of Stravinsky’s The Nightingale (title
role) and in the premiere of Julius Bittner’s Das Rosengärtlein; and in 1927 at
Baden-Baden in Kurt Weill’s Das kleine Mahagonny (as Bessie).
In 1922, she was heard at the Sopot Forest Opera Festival as the
Waldvogel in Siegfried. In 1924 and 1926 she toured Holland with the Berlin
State Opera ensemble. Additional roles in her repertoire included Caroline in
Lortzing’s Die beiden Schützen, Woglinde in Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen, Oscar
in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, Musetta in La Bohème, and Eudoxia in Halévy’s
La Juive.
By the 1930s, she had transitioned to work as an assistant director at
the Berlin State Opera under Heinz Tietjen. From 1934 to 1942 she served as a
voice consultant, assistant director, and assistant stage manager at the
Bayreuth Festival, while also being in demand as a teacher in Berlin. After the
Second World War, she was engaged from 1947 to 1949 as a stage manager and
director at the Saarbrücken State Theatre and subsequently headed the opera
class at the Saarbrücken Music Academy until 1960.
She later settled in Baden-Baden, eventually becoming nearly blind and
moving to Wiesbaden. Her daughter was the noted singer Carla Henius (b. 1919),
who specialized in contemporary music. Irene Edenhofer’s coloratura soprano
combined brilliant technique with exceptional lightness and brilliance of tone.
TRACKLIST
Dorfschwalben aus Österreich (Strauss) 043367, 65591 509av Grammophon,
Berlin 1921
Fledermaus (Strauss) Mein Herr Marquis 65620 (B24043) Grammophon,
Berlin 1921
Fledermaus (Strauss) Spiel' ich die Unschuld vom Lande 65620 (B24044)
Grammophon, Berlin 1921
Frühlingsstimmen-Walzer (Strauss) 043368, 65591 351½as Grammophon,
Berlin 1921
Lakmé (Delibes) Glöckchen-Arie 65694 (B24151) Grammophon, Berlin (ac)
Mignon (Thomas) Polonaise 65694 (B24150) Grammophon, Berlin (ac)
Mireille (Gounod) Walzer 65734 (B24164) Grammophon, Berlin (ac)
Rigoletto (Verdi) Gilda-Arie 65734 (B24163) Grammophon, Berlin (ac)
Zauberflöte (Mozart) Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen 65605
(B24020) 523as Grammophon, Berlin 1921
Zauberflöte (Mozart) Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren 65605 (B24019) 522as Grammophon, Berlin 1921
No comments:
Post a Comment