Marie Wittich
Encyclopedia
Marie Wittich was a German operatic soprano
. She was a Kammersängerin
of the Dresden Royal Opera
where she sang for 25 years and was known for the power, vibrancy and dramatic quality of her voice.. She created the leading female roles in the world premieres of several operas, most famously, the title role in Salome
by Richard Strauss
. The novelist E. M. Forster
, who saw her 1905 Dresden performance as Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen
, wrote: "She towered. She soared. Force, weight, majesty! She seemed to make history."
and studied singing in Würzburg
with Frau Ober-Ubrich, a sister of the prominent soprano Asminde Ubrich. She made her stage debut in 1882 in Magdeburg as Azucena in Il trovatore
and went on to sing in Basle, Düsseldorf, Dresden, and Schwerin, where in 1886 she sang the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide
for the inauguration of the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater
. In 1889, she became a permanent member of the Dresden Royal Opera (Hofoper). Amongst her early performances there were Lenore in Fidelio
and Senta in The Flying Dutchman
. While at Dresden she also sang in several world premieres, including Penelope
in August Bungert
's Odysseus' Heimkehr (Odysseus' Return) (1896), Ulana in Paderewski
's Manru
(1901), and most famously the title role of Richard Strauss' Salome
(1905).
During the rehearsals for the premiere of Salome, several members of the cast became dismayed by the demanding and complex nature of their parts, none more so than Wittich, who was reluctant to sing a role which Strauss described as "a sixteen-year old princess with the voice of Isolde
". Her reply to him was, "One just does not write like that, Herr Strauss. Either one thing or the other." She and most of the cast nearly withdrew from the production, but eventually relented and continued with the rehearsals. However Wittich, who was 37 with a somewhat matronly figure (Strauss referred to her as "Auntie Wittich"), flatly refused to perform Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils
or to kiss the severed head of John the Baptist
. Her oft-quoted remark to Strauss in this respect was: "I won't do it; I'm a decent woman." In the end, the opening night on 9 December 1905 was a triumph with the singers taking 38 curtain calls. A ballerina from the Dresden company performed the Dance of the Seven Veils.
A distinguished Wagnerian
singer, Wittich appeared regularly in Bayreuth
from 1901 to 1909 where she sang Sieglinde
, Kundry
, and Isolde. She made her Covent Garden
debut in 1905 as Brünnhilde in a performance described as "one of the most sympathetic and womanly Brünnhildes we have seen here." She continued to sing there though 1906 in four other Wagner roles – Elsa
, Elisabeth
, Isolde, and Sieglinde. Other theatres where she sang as a guest artist after 1900 were the Prague State Opera
(1902), the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels (1907), and the National Theatre in Munich (1906 and 1907). In 1914 she made her farewell to the stage in a performance of Tristan und Isolde
in Dresden, and taught singing there following her retirement.
Marie Wittich died in Dresden on 4 August 1931 at the age of 63.
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...
. She was a Kammersängerin
Kammersänger
Kammersänger , abbreviation: "Ks.", literally means "Chamber singer." It is a German honorific title for distinguished singers...
of the Dresden Royal Opera
Semperoper
The Semperoper is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden and the concert hall of the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden . It is located near the Elbe River in the historic center of Dresden, Germany.The opera house was originally built by the architect Gottfried Semper in 1841...
where she sang for 25 years and was known for the power, vibrancy and dramatic quality of her voice.. She created the leading female roles in the world premieres of several operas, most famously, the title role in Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
by Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
. The novelist E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
, who saw her 1905 Dresden performance as Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
, wrote: "She towered. She soared. Force, weight, majesty! She seemed to make history."
Biography
Marie Wittich was born in GiessenGießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
and studied singing in Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
with Frau Ober-Ubrich, a sister of the prominent soprano Asminde Ubrich. She made her stage debut in 1882 in Magdeburg as Azucena in 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...
and went on to sing in Basle, Düsseldorf, Dresden, and Schwerin, where in 1886 she sang the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide
Iphigénie en Aulide is an opera in three acts by Christoph Willibald Gluck, the first work he wrote for the Paris stage. The libretto was written by Leblanc du Roullet and was based on Jean Racine's tragedy Iphigénie...
for the inauguration of the Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater
Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin
The Mecklenburgisches Staatstheater Schwerin is the principal theatre of Schwerin in Germany. Its main theatre seats 650 people and is used for the performance of plays, opera, musical theatre and ballet. Designed by Georg Daniel, it was built between 1883 and 1886 after the previous theatre had...
. In 1889, she became a permanent member of the Dresden Royal Opera (Hofoper). Amongst her early performances there were Lenore in Fidelio
Fidelio
Fidelio is a German opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. It is Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto is by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly which had been used for the 1798 opera Léonore, ou L’amour conjugal by Pierre Gaveaux, and for the 1804 opera Leonora...
and Senta in The Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
. While at Dresden she also sang in several world premieres, including Penelope
Penelope
In Homer's Odyssey, Penelope is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and is eventually reunited with him....
in August Bungert
August Bungert
August Bungert was a German opera composer and poet.-Early life:Bungert was born in Mülheim. His unusual musical talent was noticed and nurtured at high school by his teacher, Heinrich Kufferath, the brother of the composer Ferdinand Kufferath...
's Odysseus' Heimkehr (Odysseus' Return) (1896), Ulana in Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...
's Manru
Manru
Manru is an opera in three acts, music by Ignacy Jan Paderewski composed to the libretto by Alfred Nossig Manru is an opera (lyrical drama) in three acts, music by Ignacy Jan Paderewski composed to the libretto by Alfred Nossig Manru is an opera (lyrical drama) in three acts, music by Ignacy Jan...
(1901), and most famously the title role of Richard Strauss' Salome
Salome (opera)
Salome is an opera in one act by Richard Strauss to a German libretto by the composer, based on Hedwig Lachmann’s German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Strauss dedicated the opera to his friend Sir Edgar Speyer....
(1905).
During the rehearsals for the premiere of Salome, several members of the cast became dismayed by the demanding and complex nature of their parts, none more so than Wittich, who was reluctant to sing a role which Strauss described as "a sixteen-year old princess with the voice of 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...
". Her reply to him was, "One just does not write like that, Herr Strauss. Either one thing or the other." She and most of the cast nearly withdrew from the production, but eventually relented and continued with the rehearsals. However Wittich, who was 37 with a somewhat matronly figure (Strauss referred to her as "Auntie Wittich"), flatly refused to perform Salome's Dance of the Seven Veils
Dance of the Seven Veils
In several notable works of Western culture, the Dance of the Seven Veils is one of the elaborations on the biblical tale of the execution of John the Baptist...
or to kiss the severed head of John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
. Her oft-quoted remark to Strauss in this respect was: "I won't do it; I'm a decent woman." In the end, the opening night on 9 December 1905 was a triumph with the singers taking 38 curtain calls. A ballerina from the Dresden company performed the Dance of the Seven Veils.
A distinguished Wagnerian
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
singer, Wittich appeared regularly in Bayreuth
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
The or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner...
from 1901 to 1909 where she sang Sieglinde
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
, Kundry
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
, and Isolde. She made her Covent Garden
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...
debut in 1905 as Brünnhilde in a performance described as "one of the most sympathetic and womanly Brünnhildes we have seen here." She continued to sing there though 1906 in four other Wagner roles – Elsa
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, Elisabeth
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...
, Isolde, and Sieglinde. Other theatres where she sang as a guest artist after 1900 were the Prague State Opera
Prague State Opera
The Prague State Opera , is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic. The theatre was originally founded in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre....
(1902), the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels (1907), and the National Theatre in Munich (1906 and 1907). In 1914 she made her farewell to the stage in a performance of 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 Dresden, and taught singing there following her retirement.
Marie Wittich died in Dresden on 4 August 1931 at the age of 63.
Sources
- Fisher, Burton D, Strauss's Salome, Opera Journeys Publishing, 2005, p. 33. ISBN 0977145514
- Forster, E. M., "My first opera" in OperaOpera (magazine)Opera is a monthly British magazine devoted to covering all things related to opera.Based in London, the magazine was founded in 1950 by George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood. It was launched at the house of Richard Buckle, under the imprint 'Ballet Publications Ltd'...
, June 1963, Vol. 14, p. 374. - Kuhn, Laura (ed.), "Wittich, Marie", Baker's Dictionary of Opera, Schirmer Books, 2000, p. 895. ISBN 0028653491
- Kutsch, Karl, J. and Riemens, Leo, "Wittich, Marie", Grosses Sängerlexikon, Francke, 1994, Vol. 2, p. 3222. ISBN 9783317016384
- Malik, Shireen, "Salome and Her Dance of the Seven Veils" in Jennifer Heath (ed.), The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics, University of California Press, 2008, pp. 139-159. ISBN 0520250400
- Puffett, Derrick, Richard Strauss, Salome, Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 0521359708
- Rosenthal, Harold D. Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden, Putnam, 1958, p. 308.
- Sadie, Stanley (ed.), "Wittich, Marie", The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Grove's Dictionaries of Music, 1992, Vol. 4, p. 1168
- Warrack, John Hamilton and West, Ewan, (eds.), "Wittich, Marie", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Oxford University Press, 1992. ISBN 0198691645. Accessed online via subscription 27 July 2008.
External links
- Marie Wittich on Isoldes-Liebestod.info – biography in German and extensive photo gallery.