Pauline Anna Milder-Hauptmann
Encyclopedia
Anna Milder-HauptmannShe was mostly called Anna Milder. Before her marriage, she was often referred to on playbills, reviews and correspondence as Mlle Milder, sometimes as Nanny Milder. After her marriage, many documents refer to her as Madame Milder. (13 December 1785 – 29 May 1838) was an opera
tic soprano
.
where her father, Felix Milder from Salzburg
, was employed by the Austrian ambassador Baron Herbert von Rathkeal as pastry chef
; her mother was lady-in-waiting
to the ambassador's wife. When Anna Milder was five years old, the family left for Bucharest
where Felix Milder worked as translator until they had to leave because of the Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791). After Felix Milder worked briefly again for the ambassador, the family returned to Bucharest, only to have to flee again when pestilence broke out there. After quarantine
in Herrmannstadt
, the family settled in Vienna. Here, Anna Milder, now aged 10, received her first formal education which included the German language which she had not spoken before, although she was fluent in French, Italian, Modern Greek, and Romanian. She became exposed to opera and church music
and begged her parents to let her receive a musical education. After some initial, and inedequate, teaching by the local schoolmaster, Sigismund von Neukomm
heard her and began teaching the 16-year old for 2 years. On Schikaneder's
advise, she also studied with Salieri
.
in 1801 and Josepha Weber
, Mozart's
sister-in-law, negotiated on Neukomm's behalf for a position for Anna Milder at that theatre. Milder was engaged for 500 Gulden
and made her stage debut there as Juno in Süßmayr
's opera Der Spiegel von Arkadien on 9 April 1803, aged 19. Soon she gained major roles and changed to the Theater am Kärntnertor
for a contract worth 2,000 Gulden. In 1805, she sang Leonore in the first performance of Beethoven's
Fidelio
, and again in the second and third versions in 1806 and 1814. Luigi Cherubini
wrote Faniska
for her in 1806. She was intended to sing Beethoven's aria "Ah, perfido!", Op. 65, at the Academy Concert on 22 December 1808, but following a quarrel between the composer and Peter Hauptmann, Milde's soon-to-be husband, she refused; she was replaced by a Dem. Killitzky.
was so impressed by her performance in Martin's opera Una cosa rara and other works, that he invited her to Paris, which she refused due to her impending marriage to the Vienna jeweller Peter Hauptmann in 1810. The couple had a daughter in 1811. She contributed to the success of Joseph Weigl
's Das Waisenhaus (1808) and, as Emmeline, Die Schweizer Familie (1809). Her performance in Gluck's
Iphigénie en Tauride
in 1812 was largely responsible for the Gluck revival in Vienna and Berlin. She sang in the first Vienna performance of Cherubini's Médée
in 1812. In 1812 and 1813, Milder toured to Breslau, Berlin, Karsruhe, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt.
. Accompanied by her sister Jeanette Antonie Bürde (b. 1799), an accomplished composer and pianist, she travelled to Berlin in May 1815 where she would stay for the next 14 years. Gaspare Spontini
was music director at the Berlin Court Opera, and Milder sang the role of Statira in the first Berlin performance of Spontini's opera Olimpie
in 1821 as well as in the premieres of his operas Nurmahal (as Namouna in 1822) and Agnes von Hohenstaufen
(as Irmengard in 1827). She again performed Gluck and Weigl in Berlin and was appointed prima donna
assoluta and became a member of the Berlin Singakademie
in 1821. On 11 March 1829 she sang in Mendelssohn's
revival of Bach's St Matthew Passion. Mendelssohn wrote the concert aria Tutto è silenzio in 1829 for her. Following a quarrel with Spontini, she left Berlin in 1829 and visited Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Milder-Hauptmann then returned to Berlin where her last public appearance was in 1836.
She died in Berlin and is buried on the Alter Domfriedhof St. Hedwig.
, whose pupil Neukomm was, remarked on Milder's voice, "it's like a house", and Georg August Griesinger
described it "like pure metal". Johann Friedrich Reichardt
said Milder's voice was the most beautiful he had heard since Elisabeth Mara's
. Goethe
was deeply moved by Milder's performance when he heard her in 1823 in Marienbad
; on the occasion of Milder's 25th stage anniversary on 9 April 1928, he sent her a dedicated copy of his play Iphigenia in Tauris. Similarly, after a successful production of Gluck's Alceste
, the composer's newphew presented Milder with a miniature painting of Gluck and the score of Alceste. Milder was however criticised for a lack of vocal agility. Schubert
said: "her voice is the best, her trills
are the worst." Generally, her performances of works by Rossini were disliked by critics.
Many composers dedicated works to Milder-Hauptmann, including Bernhard Joseph Klein (1793–1832), Neukomm, Carl Blum, Conradin Kreutzer
, Joseph Wolfram, Karl Borromäus von Miltitz. Among the more notable works are:
Kreutzer wrote his monodrama
Adele von Budoy (1821, in 1823 revived as Cordelia with Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
) for Milder. Franz Schubert wrote the lied
"Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
", D.
965, for Milder-Hauptmann which she premiered in Riga
on 10 February 1830 and later that year also sang in Berlin. Milder had previously premiered Schubert's song "Die Forelle
" and he had in 1824 dedicated the lied "Suleika II", D. 717, to her; the role of Estrella in his opera Alfonso und Estrella
was designed for her, but the opera was never performed during Schubert's lifetime. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
(XVI, 1814, col. 315) wrote: "Happy those for whom works are written!" ("Wohl denen, für die eigens componiert wird!").
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...
.
Early life
Milder was born in ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
where her father, Felix Milder from Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, was employed by the Austrian ambassador Baron Herbert von Rathkeal as pastry chef
Pastry chef
A pastry chef or pâtissier is a station chef in a professional kitchen, skilled in the making of pastries, desserts, breads and other baked goods...
; her mother was lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to the ambassador's wife. When Anna Milder was five years old, the family left for Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
where Felix Milder worked as translator until they had to leave because of the Austro-Turkish War (1787–1791). After Felix Milder worked briefly again for the ambassador, the family returned to Bucharest, only to have to flee again when pestilence broke out there. After quarantine
Quarantine
Quarantine is compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian quarantena, meaning forty-day period....
in Herrmannstadt
Sibiu
Sibiu is a city in Transylvania, Romania with a population of 154,548. Located some 282 km north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Cibin River, a tributary of the river Olt...
, the family settled in Vienna. Here, Anna Milder, now aged 10, received her first formal education which included the German language which she had not spoken before, although she was fluent in French, Italian, Modern Greek, and Romanian. She became exposed to opera and church music
Church music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
and begged her parents to let her receive a musical education. After some initial, and inedequate, teaching by the local schoolmaster, Sigismund von Neukomm
Sigismund von Neukomm
Sigismond Neukomm or Sigismund Ritter von Neukomm [after ennoblement as a knight] was an Austrian composer and pianist....
heard her and began teaching the 16-year old for 2 years. On Schikaneder's
Emanuel Schikaneder
Emanuel Schikaneder , born Johann Joseph Schickeneder, was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer and composer. He was the librettist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the builder of the Theater an der Wien...
advise, she also studied with Salieri
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri was a Venetian classical composer, conductor and teacher born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, but who spent his adult life and career as a faithful subject of the Habsburg monarchy....
.
Early career
Schikaneder had opened the Theater an der WienTheater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
in 1801 and Josepha Weber
Josepha Weber
Josepha Weber was a German soprano of the classical era...
, Mozart's
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...
sister-in-law, negotiated on Neukomm's behalf for a position for Anna Milder at that theatre. Milder was engaged for 500 Gulden
Austro-Hungarian gulden
The Gulden or forint was the currency of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the...
and made her stage debut there as Juno in Süßmayr
Franz Xaver Süssmayr
Franz Xaver Süssmayr was an Austrian composer, now famous for his completion of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem.-Early life:...
's opera Der Spiegel von Arkadien on 9 April 1803, aged 19. Soon she gained major roles and changed to the Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor
Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...
for a contract worth 2,000 Gulden. In 1805, she sang Leonore in the first performance of Beethoven's
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
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 again in the second and third versions in 1806 and 1814. Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini
Luigi Cherubini was an Italian composer who spent most of his working life in France. His most significant compositions are operas and sacred music. Beethoven regarded Cherubini as the greatest of his contemporaries....
wrote Faniska
Faniska
Faniska is an opéra comique in three acts by Luigi Cherubini. The German libretto, by Joseph Sonnleithner, is based on Les mines de Pologne by René Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt.-Background:...
for her in 1806. She was intended to sing Beethoven's aria "Ah, perfido!", Op. 65, at the Academy Concert on 22 December 1808, but following a quarrel between the composer and Peter Hauptmann, Milde's soon-to-be husband, she refused; she was replaced by a Dem. Killitzky.
1809–1813
In 1809, NapoleonNapoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
was so impressed by her performance in Martin's opera Una cosa rara and other works, that he invited her to Paris, which she refused due to her impending marriage to the Vienna jeweller Peter Hauptmann in 1810. The couple had a daughter in 1811. She contributed to the success of Joseph Weigl
Joseph Weigl
Joseph Weigl , was an Austrian composer and conductor.The son of Joseph Franz Weigl , the principal cellist in the orchestra of the Esterházy family, he was born in Eisenstadt and studied music under Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri...
's Das Waisenhaus (1808) and, as Emmeline, Die Schweizer Familie (1809). Her performance in Gluck's
Christoph Willibald Gluck
Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck was an opera composer of the early classical period. After many years at the Habsburg court at Vienna, Gluck brought about the practical reform of opera's dramaturgical practices that many intellectuals had been campaigning for over the years...
Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie en Tauride is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck in four acts. It was his fifth opera for the French stage. The libretto was written by Nicolas-François Guillard....
in 1812 was largely responsible for the Gluck revival in Vienna and Berlin. She sang in the first Vienna performance of Cherubini's Médée
Médée (Cherubini)
Médée is a French language opéra-comique by Luigi Cherubini.The libretto by François-Benoît Hoffmann was based on Euripides' tragedy of Medea and Pierre Corneille's play Médée....
in 1812. In 1812 and 1813, Milder toured to Breslau, Berlin, Karsruhe, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt.
1814–1838
The Austrian currency fell sharply around 1814, and Milder-Hauptmann received offers for roles at the Berlin Court OperaBerlin 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:...
. Accompanied by her sister Jeanette Antonie Bürde (b. 1799), an accomplished composer and pianist, she travelled to Berlin in May 1815 where she would stay for the next 14 years. Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Spontini
Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini was an Italian opera composer and conductor, extremely celebrated in his time, though largely forgotten after his death.-Biography:...
was music director at the Berlin Court Opera, and Milder sang the role of Statira in the first Berlin performance of Spontini's opera Olimpie
Olimpie
Olimpie is an opera in three acts by Gaspare Spontini. The French libretto, by Armand-Michel Dieulafoy and Charles Brifaut, is based on the play of the same name by Voltaire...
in 1821 as well as in the premieres of his operas Nurmahal (as Namouna in 1822) and Agnes von Hohenstaufen
Agnes von Hohenstaufen
Agnes von Hohenstaufen is an opera in three acts by the Italian composer Gaspare Spontini. The German libretto is by Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach. It was first staged at the Königliches Opernhaus, Berlin on 12 June 1829...
(as Irmengard in 1827). She again performed Gluck and Weigl in Berlin and was appointed 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...
assoluta and became a member of the Berlin Singakademie
Berlin Singakademie
The Sing-Akademie zu Berlin is a musical society founded in Berlin in 1791 by Carl Friedrich Christian Fasch, harpsichordist to the court of Prussia, on the model of the 18th century London Academy of Ancient Music.-Early history:...
in 1821. On 11 March 1829 she sang in Mendelssohn's
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
revival of Bach's St Matthew Passion. Mendelssohn wrote the concert aria Tutto è silenzio in 1829 for her. Following a quarrel with Spontini, she left Berlin in 1829 and visited Russia, Sweden, and Denmark. Milder-Hauptmann then returned to Berlin where her last public appearance was in 1836.
She died in Berlin and is buried on the Alter Domfriedhof St. Hedwig.
Other dedications
Joseph HaydnJoseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
, whose pupil Neukomm was, remarked on Milder's voice, "it's like a house", and Georg August Griesinger
Georg August Griesinger
Georg August von Griesinger was a tutor and diplomat resident in Vienna during the late 18th and 19th centuries. He is remembered for his friendships with the composers Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, and for the biography he wrote of Haydn....
described it "like pure metal". Johann Friedrich Reichardt
Johann Friedrich Reichardt
Johann Friedrich Reichardt was a German composer, writer and music critic.-Early life:Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and Stadtmusiker Johann Reichardt . Johann Friedrich began his musical training, in violin, keyboard, and lute, as a child...
said Milder's voice was the most beautiful he had heard since Elisabeth Mara's
Gertrud Elisabeth Mara
Gertrud Elisabeth Mara [née Schmeling] was a German operatic soprano.She was born in Kassel, the daughter of a poor musician, Johann Schmeling. From him she learnt to play the violin, and while still a child, her playing at the fair at Frankfurt was so remarkable that money was collected to...
. Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
was deeply moved by Milder's performance when he heard her in 1823 in Marienbad
Mariánské Lázne
Mariánské Lázně is a spa town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. The town, surrounded by green mountains, is a mosaic of parks and noble houses...
; on the occasion of Milder's 25th stage anniversary on 9 April 1928, he sent her a dedicated copy of his play Iphigenia in Tauris. Similarly, after a successful production of Gluck's Alceste
Alceste (Gluck)
Alceste is an opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck from 1767. The libretto was written by Ranieri de' Calzabigi and based on the play Alcestis by Euripides. The premiere took place in Vienna.-Preface and reforms:...
, the composer's newphew presented Milder with a miniature painting of Gluck and the score of Alceste. Milder was however criticised for a lack of vocal agility. Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
said: "her voice is the best, her trills
Trill (music)
The trill is a musical ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between two adjacent notes, usually a semitone or tone apart, which can be identified with the context of the trill....
are the worst." Generally, her performances of works by Rossini were disliked by critics.
Many composers dedicated works to Milder-Hauptmann, including Bernhard Joseph Klein (1793–1832), Neukomm, Carl Blum, Conradin Kreutzer
Conradin 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...
, Joseph Wolfram, Karl Borromäus von Miltitz. Among the more notable works are:
Kreutzer wrote his monodrama
Monodrama
A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character.- Monodrama in opera :...
Adele von Budoy (1821, in 1823 revived as Cordelia with Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient
Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, born Wilhelmine Schröder , was a German operatic soprano. As a singer she combined a rare quality of tone with dramatic intensity of expression, which was as remarkable on the concert platform as in opera.- Biography :Schröder was born in Hamburg, the daughter of the...
) for Milder. Franz Schubert wrote the lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
"Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
"The Shepherd on the Rock" , D. 965, is a famous lied for soprano, clarinet, and piano by Franz Schubert. It was composed in 1828 during the final months of his life...
", D.
Otto Erich Deutsch
Otto Erich Deutsch was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of the works of Franz Schubert, first published in 1951 in English, new edition in 1978 in German...
965, for Milder-Hauptmann which she premiered in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
on 10 February 1830 and later that year also sang in Berlin. Milder had previously premiered Schubert's song "Die Forelle
Die Forelle
Franz Schubert composed his lively lied "Die Forelle" in early 1817 for solo voice and piano. The text is from a poem by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart. In the Deutsch catalog of Schubert's works it is number 550, or D550...
" and he had in 1824 dedicated the lied "Suleika II", D. 717, to her; the role of Estrella in his opera Alfonso und Estrella
Alfonso und Estrella
Alfonso und Estrella is an opera with music by Franz Schubert, set to a German libretto by Franz von Schober, written in 1822...
was designed for her, but the opera was never performed during Schubert's lifetime. The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
The Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung was a German-language periodical published in the 19th century. Comini has called it "the foremost German-language musical periodical of its time"...
(XVI, 1814, col. 315) wrote: "Happy those for whom works are written!" ("Wohl denen, für die eigens componiert wird!").