Description

JOSIE VON PETRU, ALSO JOSIPA PETRU OR JOSEFINE PETRU (OSIJEK, 19 MARCH, 1876 – DAVOS, 22 NOVEMBER, 1907)

Josefine Petru was born in 1876 in Osijek, Slavonia, the daughter of wholesale merchant Karl Petru and his wife Eleonore. Her uncle was the publisher Karl Laubner, editor of the Osijek newspaper Slavonische Presse. At the end of the 1890s, Petru moved with her mother to Graz, where she began her vocal training. After graduating from the Vienna Conservatory—where she studied singing with Philipp Forstén and acting with August Stoll—Petru secured an engagement at the Prague Opera. Two years later, in 1902, she was engaged by Gustav Mahler at the Vienna Court Opera, then the most prestigious opera house in Europe.

Petru made her debut on August 30, 1902, as Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and enjoyed success in the following years as an interpreter of Verdi and Wagner. However, she soon became seriously ill and had to end her musical career.

To recover, she went to Davos, Switzerland, where she died on November 22, 1907, at the age of only 31. Josefine Petru was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

TRACKLIST

Carmen (Bizet) Draußen am Wald von Sevilla 1-26038 629-o Favorite, Wien 1905

Carmen (Bizet) Habanera 1-26060 Favorite, Wien 1905

Carmen (Bizet) Kartenarie 1-26061 Favorite, Wien 1905

Mignon (Thomas) Kennst du das Land 1-26059 Favorite, Wien 1905

Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Duett (w. Kiurina) 38306 Odeon, Wien 1906

Prophète (Meyerbeer) Bettelarie 1-26039 630-o Favorite, Wien 1905

Trovatore (Verdi) Arie der Acuzena 1-26058 Favorite, Wien 1905

Trovatore (Verdi) In uns’re Heimat (w. Maikl) 1-29033 Favorite, Wien 1905