Description

MARIANNE ELISABETH FELICITAS ALFERMANN (BERLIN, 8 JUNE, 1891 – GRÄFELFING, 27 FEBRUARY, 1954)

She began her career with a stage engagement at the Mainz Municipal Theatre from 1910 to 1912. After a guest appearance at the Berlin Court Opera in December 1911, she became a member of this opera house from 1912 to 1917. From 1917 to 1918, she was engaged at the Frankfurt Opera, where she sang, among other roles, Zerbinetta in R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos and Violetta in La Traviata, as well as many operetta roles. From 1919 to 1923, she was engaged at the Wiesbaden Theatre. From 1925, she lived in Berlin as a guest artist and increasingly turned to the field of operetta. In the second half of the 1920s, she frequently appeared at the Berlin Central Theatre as a celebrated operetta diva. She performed a wide range of roles in classic operettas by Offenbach, Johann Strauss, Millöcker, Leo Fall, and Gilbert & Sullivan, as well as contemporary composers.

As an opera singer, she had already performed at the Court Theatre in Darmstadt in 1912 and at the Dresden Court Opera in 1916; here, she sang roles such as Gilda in Rigoletto, the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, Massenet’s Manon, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier, and Queen Marguerite in Meyerbeer’s The Huguenots.

Recordings: Solo titles on Tri-Ergon, Homochord (solo recordings; finale of the first act of Die Fledermaus as Adele, together with Vera Schwarz, Hans Heinz Bollmann, and Richard Bitterauf), Odeon (duets with Richard Tauber), and Clangor (People’s Record Association; here, duets with Johannes Sembach).

TRACKLIST

1. Der blonde Zigeuner (Knopf) Amalia, ich brauch’ Liebe (w. Hainisch) 4202 E 1630 BB Vox, Berlin 1927
2. Der blonde Zigeuner (Knopf) Auftrittslied der Lona 02210 1556AA Vox, Berlin 1927
3. Der blonde Zigeuner (Knopf) Wie ein Blütenrausch im Mai 02210 1555AA Vox, Berlin 1927
4. Die Fledermaus (Strauss) Brüderlein und Schwesterlein (w. Schwarz, Jansen, Bollmann, Rich, Bitterauf & Klewitz) 4-8905 T. M 52492 Homocord
5. Paganini (Lehár) Niemand liebt dich so wie ich (w. Bollmann) 4-8839 52276 Homocord, 19281929
6. Still wie die Nacht! (Götze) (w. Bitterauf) 4-2892 T. M 20509 Homocord
7. Wieder Monopol (Hirsch) Träume, Liebling, von mir 02199 852AA Vox, Berlin 1926
8. Zarewitsch (Lehár) Hab’ nur dich allein (w. Bollmann) 4-8839 52277 Homocord, 19281929
9. Zirkusprinzessin (Kálmán) Wenn du mich sitzen lässt (w. Wirl) 4199 1105-1BB Vox, Berlin 1926