Claire Dux
Encyclopedia
Claire Dux was an opera
tic and concert soprano
with a successful career in continental Europe, England, and the United States.
in the county of Gnesen
(today Gniezno
); that area was part of the Kingdom of Prussia
's Province of Posen
from 1815 until 1920. Alan Blyth
calls her Polish, other sources call her German, The New York Times
called her Swiss in 1920. Both of her parents were musical, her mother was related to Clara Schumann
. At the age of 12, Dux sang Gretel in a school production of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.
, and to Milan where she studied with Teresa Arkel. Dux made her professional debut in 1906 at the Cologne Opera
as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute
. Other roles in Cologne included Mimì in Puccini's La bohème
, and she gained international reputation through European tours. During a guest appearance at the Berlin State Opera
in 1909, she sang Mimì opposite Enrico Caruso. From 1911 until 1918, she was a member of the Berlin State Opera. There, she sang Sophie in the first Berlin performance of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
, which impressed Thomas Beecham
so much that he invited her to sing that role at the opera's first performance in London at the Royal Opera House
in 1913. Dux had made her London debut in 1911 with Thomas Beecham
at His Majesty's Theatre
. During the years from 1918 until 1921, Dux sang mostly in concert recitals and toured the Royal Swedish Opera
in Stockholm. In 1921 she became a member of the Chicago Civic Opera
where she debuted as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci
; she remained there for the rest of her career, although she returned to Europe occasionally as a guest artist.
, and since August 1926 to Charles H. Swift – son of the founder of Swift & Company
, Gustavus Franklin Swift
– benefactor of the University of Chicago
and the Newberry Library
. The Newberry Library gained through her estate the manuscript of Mozart's "Conservati fedele
". The Music Department of the University of Chicago named a professorship after her: the Claire Dux Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities.
. She recorded works with Pathé
, Odeon
, Polydor
, and Brunswick
.
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 and concert 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...
with a successful career in continental Europe, England, and the United States.
Early life
Clara Auguste Dux was born in the village WitkowoWitkowo
Witkowo is a town in Gniezno County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, located southeast of Poznań.- External links :*...
in the county of Gnesen
Kreis Gnesen
Kreis Gnesen is one of several Kreise in the northern administrative district of Bromberg, in the Prussian province of Posen.-Table of Standesamter:...
(today Gniezno
Gniezno
Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...
); that area was part of the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
's Province of Posen
Province of Posen
The Province of Posen was a province of Prussia from 1848–1918 and as such part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. The area was about 29,000 km2....
from 1815 until 1920. Alan Blyth
Alan Blyth
Geoffrey Alan Blyth was an English music critic, author, and musicologist who was particularly known for his writings within the field of opera. He graduated from the Rugby School before attending the University of Oxford where he studied with Jack Westrup...
calls her Polish, other sources call her German, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called her Swiss in 1920. Both of her parents were musical, her mother was related to Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
. At the age of 12, Dux sang Gretel in a school production of Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel.
Career
She went to Bromberg (today Bydgoszcz) where she start to studied singing. Later she went to Berlin where she studied singing with Adolf Deppe and Maria Schwadtke, a student of Marianne BrandtMarianne Brandt (contralto)
Marianne Brandt was an Austrian operatic singer with an international reputation.She was born as Marie Bischof in Vienna and was educated at the music conservatory in that city. She first attracted attention on stage in 1867 as Recha in La Juive and soon afterward accepted an engagement at the...
, and to Milan where she studied with Teresa Arkel. Dux made her professional debut in 1906 at the Cologne Opera
Cologne Opera
The Cologne Opera refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company.-History of the company:...
as Pamina in Mozart'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....
. Other roles in Cologne included Mimì in Puccini's La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
, and she gained international reputation through European tours. During a guest appearance at the Berlin State Opera
Berlin State Opera
The Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
in 1909, she sang Mimì opposite Enrico Caruso. From 1911 until 1918, she was a member of the Berlin State Opera. There, she sang Sophie in the first Berlin performance of Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...
, which impressed Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
so much that he invited her to sing that role at the opera's first performance in London at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
in 1913. Dux had made her London debut in 1911 with Thomas Beecham
Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet CH was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He was also closely associated with the Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras...
at His Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
. During the years from 1918 until 1921, Dux sang mostly in concert recitals and toured the Royal Swedish Opera
Royal Swedish Opera
Kungliga Operan is Sweden's national stage for opera and ballet.-Location and Environment:...
in Stockholm. In 1921 she became a member of the Chicago Civic Opera
Chicago Civic Opera
The Civic Opera Company was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theater from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financial difficulties brought on in part by the Great Depression.-...
where she debuted as Nedda in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
; she remained there for the rest of her career, although she returned to Europe occasionally as a guest artist.
Personal life
Dux was married three times: first to a writer called Imperatori, then briefly to the German actor Hans AlbersHans Albers
Hans Philipp August Albers was a German actor and singer. He was the single biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.- Life and work :...
, and since August 1926 to Charles H. Swift – son of the founder of Swift & Company
Swift & Company
Swift & Company is an American food procession company a wholly owned subsidiary of JBS S.A. , a Brazilian company that is the world's largest processor of fresh beef and pork, with more than US$30 billion in annual sales as of 2010. It is also the largest beef processor in Australia.Swift &...
, Gustavus Franklin Swift
Gustavus Franklin Swift
Gustavus Franklin Swift founded a meat-packing empire in the Midwest during the late 19th century, over which he presided until his death...
– benefactor of the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and the Newberry Library
Newberry Library
The Newberry Library is a privately endowed, independent research library for the humanities and social sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Although it is private, non-circulating library, the Newberry Library is free and open to the public...
. The Newberry Library gained through her estate the manuscript of Mozart's "Conservati fedele
Conservati fedele
"Conservati fedele" is a concert aria for soprano and orchestra by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.-History:Mozart composed the aria in October 1765 while staying at The Hague during the family's British-European tour, when he was nine years old. Both of the Mozart children, Wolfgang and his sister...
". The Music Department of the University of Chicago named a professorship after her: the Claire Dux Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Music and the Humanities.
Recordings
In 1925, Dux was part of one the first opera broadcasts in Germany when Radio Berlin broadcast Flotow's MarthaMartha
Martha of Bethany is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem...
. She recorded works with Pathé
Pathé Records
Pathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...
, Odeon
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
, Polydor
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, and Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
.
- Lebendige Vergangenheit, 19 arias; [ review] at Allmusic