Anna Deinet
Encyclopedia
Anna Deinet (22 February 1843 - 18 August 1919) was a German
opera
tic soprano
who had an active career during the latter half of the 19th century. She had a lengthy career at the Bavarian State Opera
where she particularly excelled in coloratura soprano
roles. She is best remembered today for portraying Brangäne in the world premiere of Richard Wagner
's Tristan und Isolde
in 1865 and Helmwige in the premiere of Wagner's Die Walküre
in 1869.
's Das Nachtlager in Granada
in 1861. Later that year she became a principal artist at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
where she had her first big successes during the 1861-1862 season. In 1862-1863 she sang at the Bremen Theater.
In 1863 Deinet was appointed to the Bavarian State Opera
where she remained until her retirement from the stage fifteen years later. Her first assignments at the house were Isabella in Giacomo Meyerbeer
's Robert le diable
, the Queen of the Night in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
's The Magic Flute
, and Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi
's Il trovatore
. On 10 June 1865 she created the role of Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
under the baton of Hans von Bülow
. She also created the role of Helmwige (one of the Valkyrie
s) in Richard Wagner
's Die Walküre
on 26 June 1869.
While performing in Munich, Deinet met actor Ernst von Possart
(1841-1921) and began a romantic relationship with him in the mid 1860s. The couple were married in 1868, after which the soprano performed under the name Anna Deinet-Possart. Among the many roles she sang at the Bavarian State Opera were Inez in Meyerbeer's Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
, Marie in Gaetano Donizetti
's La fille du régiment
, Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
, Inez in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine
, and Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser
. On 1 August 1878 she gave her final opera performance.
In 1875 Deinet's daughter Ernestine von Possart (1875-1946) was born. Her daughter was married to operatic tenor Robert Hutt and also had a highly successful career as an operatic soprano, using the stage name Ernesta Delsarta. In 1883 she divorced Von Possart, but the couple reconciled and were remaried in New York City 1888. From 1894-1905 her husband served as the director of the Bavarian State Opera. Deinet died in Munich at the age of 76.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
who had an active career during the latter half of the 19th century. She had a lengthy career at the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
where she particularly excelled in coloratura soprano
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
roles. She is best remembered today for portraying Brangäne in the world premiere of Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
in 1865 and Helmwige in the premiere of Wagner's Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
in 1869.
Biography
Born in Frankfurt am Main, Deinet studied under Elise Seebach before making her professional opera debut at the opera house in Frankfurt as Gabriele in Conradin KreutzerConradin Kreutzer
Conradin Kreutzer or Kreuzer was a German composer and conductor. His works include the opera for which he is remembered, Das Nachtlager in Granada, and Der Verschwender, both produced in 1834.Kreutzer owes his fame almost exclusively to Das Nachtlager in Granada , which kept the stage for...
's Das Nachtlager in Granada
Das Nachtlager in Granada
Das Nachtlager in Granada is a romantic opera in two acts by Conradin Kreutzer. The libretto is written by Karl Johann Braun von Braunthal based on Johann Friedrich Kind’s drama Das Nachtlager von Granada....
in 1861. Later that year she became a principal artist at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden is the State Theatre of the German state Hesse in the capital Wiesbaden, producing operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. It is also known as Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden...
where she had her first big successes during the 1861-1862 season. In 1862-1863 she sang at the Bremen Theater.
In 1863 Deinet was appointed to the Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
where she remained until her retirement from the stage fifteen years later. Her first assignments at the house were Isabella in Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
's Robert le diable
Robert le diable (opera)
Robert le diable is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, often regarded as the first grand opera. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Casimir Delavigne and has little connection to the medieval legend of Robert the Devil. Originally planned as a three-act opéra comique, "Meyerbeer persuaded...
, the Queen of the Night in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
, and Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
. On 10 June 1865 she created the role of Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...
under the baton of Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
. She also created the role of Helmwige (one of the Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
s) in Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
's Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
on 26 June 1869.
While performing in Munich, Deinet met actor Ernst von Possart
Ernst von Possart
Ernst von Possart was a German actor and theatre director.Possart was born in Berlin and was early an actor at Breslau, Bern, and Hamburg. Connected with the Munich Court Theatre after 1864, he became the oberregisseur in 1875...
(1841-1921) and began a romantic relationship with him in the mid 1860s. The couple were married in 1868, after which the soprano performed under the name Anna Deinet-Possart. Among the many roles she sang at the Bavarian State Opera were Inez in Meyerbeer's Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail
Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie...
, Marie in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment
La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was...
, Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
, Inez in Meyerbeer's L'Africaine
L'Africaine
L'africaine is a grand opera, the last work of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The French libretto was written by Eugène Scribe. The opera is about fictitious events in the life of the real historical person Vasco da Gama...
, and Venus in Wagner's Tannhäuser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
. On 1 August 1878 she gave her final opera performance.
In 1875 Deinet's daughter Ernestine von Possart (1875-1946) was born. Her daughter was married to operatic tenor Robert Hutt and also had a highly successful career as an operatic soprano, using the stage name Ernesta Delsarta. In 1883 she divorced Von Possart, but the couple reconciled and were remaried in New York City 1888. From 1894-1905 her husband served as the director of the Bavarian State Opera. Deinet died in Munich at the age of 76.