Emilie da Fonseca Muller, married surname Bratz was a Norwegian (originally Danish) stage actor and opera singer. She belonged to the pioneer

Innovator

An innovator in a general sense, is a person or an organization who is one of the first to introduce into reality something better than before. That often opens up a new area for others and achieves an innovation.-History:...

 group of artists in the first national theatre in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. She was also among the most noted artists of her time in Norway.

Biography

Emilie da Fonseca was the daughter of Abraham da Fonseca (1776–1849) and Marie Sofie Kiærskou (1784–1863). She and her sister Ida Henriette da Fonseca

Ida Henriette da Fonseca

Ida Henriette da Fonseca was a Danish opera singer and composer.Ida Henriette da Fonseca was the daughter of Abraham da Fonseca and Marie Sofie Kiærskou . She and her sister Emilie da Fonseca were students of Giuseppe Siboni, choir master of the Opera in Copenhagen...

 were students of
Giuseppe Siboni

Giuseppe Siboni

Giuseppe Siboni was an Italian operatic tenor, opera director, choir conductor, and voice teacher. He began his career in his native country in 1797 and actively performed in major Italian opera houses up through 1818...

, choir master of the Royal Danish Theatre

Royal Danish Theatre

The Royal Danish Theatre is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first serving as the theatre of the king, and then as the theatre of the...

 Opera in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

. She debuted in October 1827 as Susanna in 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...

at the Copenhagen Opera, and was given a position there alongside her sister the same year.

In 1831, she left Denmark and was given a position at the newly opened Norwegian National Theatre, the Christiania Theatre

Christiania Theatre

Christiania Theatre, or Kristiania Theatre, was Norway's finest stage for the spoken drama between October 4, 1836 - September 1, 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress in central Christiania, in Norway...

 in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. It is said that she left Denmark because she did not wish to stand in the shadow of her sister, who became a prima donna

Prima donna

Originally used in opera or Commedia dell'arte companies, "prima donna" is Italian for "first lady." The term was used to designate the leading female singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano...

 in Denmark. In Norway, she became one of the most noted artists. She also performed as a concert

Concert

A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

singer in the concerts arranged by the musical society, which performed many arias from famous operas in the Norwegian capital at this time.