Ernestine Schumann-Heink
| Ernestine Schumann-Heink | |
|---|---|
Schumann-Heink in 1918
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| Born |
Ernestine Amalie Pauline Rössler June 15, 1861 Libeň, Czech Republic |
| Died | November 17, 1936 (aged 75) Hollywood, California |
| Spouse(s) |
Johann Georg Ernst August Heink (m. 1882–93) Curt Paul Schuman (m. c1895-1905) William Rapp, Jr. (m. 1905–15) |
| Children | Katie (1885-?) Erich Walther Heinrich Curt (1886–1951) Hans Hugo Herman (1887-1916) Ferdinand (1893-1958) Arthur (?-1934) George Washington (1898-1979) Ilse (1906-?) |
| Parent(s) | Hans Rössler Charlotte Goldman |
Ernestine Schumann-Heink (15 June 1861 – 17 November 1936) was a German Bohemian, later American, operatic contralto. She was noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.
She was born Ernestine Amalie Pauline Rössler to a German-speaking family in the town of Libeň (German: Lieben), Bohemia, Austrian Empire, which is now part of the city of Prague, Czech Republic. 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, Rössler 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 15 October 1878 as Azucena in Il trovatore.
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