Ernestine Schumann-Heink

about

Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 1861 – 17 November 1936) was a celebrated operatic contralto, noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice. She was born as Tini Rössler to a German-speaking family in the town of Libeň (German: Lieben), near Prague (then part of the Austrian Empire). Her father Hans Rössler was a shoe maker; while previously serving as an Austrian cavalry officer, he had been stationed in northern Italy (then an Austrian protectorate), where he met and married Charlotte Goldman, with whom he returned to Libeň. When Ernestine was three years old, the family moved to Verona. In 1866, at the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War, the family moved to Prague, where she was schooled at the Ursuline Convent. At war's end, the Roesslers moved to Podgórze, now part of Kraków. The family moved again to Graz when Tini was thirteen. Here she met Marietta von LeClair, a retired opera singer who agreed to give her voice lessons. In 1877 she made her first professional performance, in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in Graz, appearing with soprano Maria Wilt, and her operatic debut at Dresden's Royal Opera House on October 15, 1878 as Azucena in Il trovatore. In 1882 she married Ernest Heink, secretary of the Dresden Opera, with whom she had four children; this violated the terms of their contracts, and both were abruptly terminated from their positions. Heink took a job at the local customs house and was soon transferred to Hamburg. Erne

top songs

albums

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Opera Arias (Contralto): Schumann-Heink, Ernestine - Mehrkens, A. / Arditi, L. / Schubert, F. / Wagner, R. / Meyerbeer, G. (1900-1935)

Prima Voce: Ernestine Schumann-Heink

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1903 Vintage Opera Classics

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Ernestine Schumann-Heink (Recorded 1906 - 1929)

The Art Of Ernestine Schumann-Heink

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The Golden Age Of Great Contraltos & Mezzos

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Opera Arias & Songs

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The Definitive Collection of the 19th Century's Greatest Virtuosos： Female Singers 1 (pre-1915 Vintage Record)

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Great Voices Of Opera

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Golden Voices Sing Great Arias

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The Grau Regime at the Metropolitan (1901-1903)

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The Spirit of Christmas Past

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