Description

MARCELLA SEMBRICH (BORN FEB. 15, 1858, WIŚNIEWCZYK, GALICIA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY [NOW IN UKRAINE] — DIED JAN. 11, 1935, NEW YORK, N.Y., U.S.)

 

 

 

 

She was born Prakseda Marcelina Kochanska in Wisniewczyk, Galicia. Sembrich was her mother’s family name. Her musical talent showed very early and was encouraged by her father, Kasimir Kochański, who was a well-known violinist. At the age of four she began her training in piano, at six in violin, and at twelve she became a student at the Lemberg Conservatory (Lwów). Her piano teacher there was the pianist Wilhelm Stengel (1846-1917), whom she married in 1877. Although she had reached artistic maturity as a piano virtuoso as well as a violinist, on the advice of Franz Liszt she started a career as a singer and in 1875 became a student of Viktor von Rokitansky and Richard Löwy in Vienna, later of Francesco Lamperti and his son Giovanni Battista Lamperti in Milan. In 1877 she made her debut at the Athens Opera as Elvira in “I Puritani” by V. Bellini. From 1878 to 1880 she was a member of the Dresden Court Opera. In 1880 she went to London, where she had great success in the following five years and again in 1895. She celebrated her greatest triumphs in London as Lucia di Lammermoor, as Marguerite de Valois in “Les Huguenots” and as Amina in “La Sonnambula”. Since 1878 she had her residence in Dresden and Berlin, later in Nice and Lausanne; she went to a worldwide concert and guest performance. She performed as a celebrated guest in St. Petersburg (1880-1882) and Moscow (1881, 1882), at the Teatro Real Madrid (1882, 1884-1885), at the Teatro San Carlo in Lisbon (1885), at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels ( 1887), at the operas of Budapest (1887) and Monte Carlo (1893-1894). In 1884 she had sensational success in the concert hall in Paris, and in 1897 on a US tour. Her lived in Paris and Milan, in Berlin and Vienna, in Stockholm and Brussels. She was in a court concert in front of the Russian Tsar Alexander III in 1894. She sang songs by F. Chopin in St. Petersburg, he promised her that she would never forget Poland. Johann Strauss wrote a new version of his Spring Voices waltz for coloratura soprano for her. From 1887 to 1891 she was a guest at the Frankfurt Opera House year after year, where she was extremely popular. After she had sung in the opening season of the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1883 (she made her debut as Lucia di Lammermoor in the 2nd performance that took place there at all), She was called back to this opera house in 1898 and remained its celebrated prima donna until she left the stage in 1909. In 1884, at the end of the season at the Metropolitan Opera, she sang a few arias from her repertoire in a Sunday Night Concert, then played two movements from a violin concerto by Bériot and some piano studies by F. Chopin. In 1905 she created the role of Rosalinde in the first performance of “Fledermaus”, and in 1903 the role of Elvira in G. Verdi’s “Ernani”, and she sang many other roles, including Mimi in “La Bohème” (which Puccini described as “unsurpassed”) and with the greatest success in 1900 the Queen of the Night in “Zauberflöte”. She has sung a total of 25 roles in 253 performances at the Metropolitan Opera (in their New York house) (plus 185 performances as part of the ensemble’s annual US tour). On February 6, 1909, she said goodbye to the audience of the Metropolitan Opera in a gala performance. In 1907 she sang the title role in F. Lehár’s “Lustiger Witwe” at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York. In 1909 she undertook a major concert and guest tour through European countries and appeared again at the court operas in Berlin and Vienna. Probably her last stage role was in 1909, when she sang the role of Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at the Warsaw Opera. In 1911 she gave one last recital in Vienna. Then she worked as a singing teacher in Berlin and later in Lausanne. After the death of her husband in 1917, she limited herself entirely to her educational work. Since 1924 she was director of the vocal department at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia; she also teaches at the Juilliard Music School in New York. Her many students included Dusolina Giannini, Alma Gluck, Hulda Lashanska and Queena Mario. Marcella Sembrich is one of the most important coloratura sopranos of all time; the precision and brilliance of her coloratura, the stylistic certainty of her performance and the richness of nuances in her expression deserve the greatest admiration even on the record. Lit. HG Owen: “A Recollection of Marcella Sembrich” (Boston & New York 1940, 1950).

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Aime-moi (Chopin) 88099 C4874 Victor, 1907-10-09
2. Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) Una voce poco fà 88097 C4858 Victor, 1907-10-05
3. Clari (Bishop) Home sweet home 88047 C4209 Victor, 1907-01-10
4. Comin’ thro’ the rye (trad) 88390 C12474 Victor, 1912-10-04
5. Der Nußbaum (Schumann) 81049 B1951 Victor, 1904-11-19
6. Dollarprinzessin (Fall) Waltz  88387 C12440 Victor, 1912-10-03
7. Don Giovanni (Mozart) Batti, batti 85038 C1954 Victor, 1904-11-19
8. Don Giovanni (Mozart) Batti, batti 88026 C3359 Victor, 1906-05-04
9. Don Pasquale (Donizetti) Ma brava…Vado, corro! (w. Scotti) 89002 C3181 Victor, 1906-03-14
10. Ernani (Verdi) Ernani, involami 1364 Columbia, New York 1903
11. Ernani (Verdi) Ernani, involami 88022 C3155 Victor, 1906-03-14
12. Ernani (Verdi) Ernani, involami 88022 C3155 Victor, 1908-11-03
13. Faust (Gounod) Ah! E strano (Jewel aria) 85037 C1953 Victor, 1904-11-19
14. Faust (Gounod) Ah! Je ris, de me voir si belle 88024 C3360 Victor, 1906-05-04
15. Halka (Moniuszko) Gdyby rannem slonkiem 88101 C4860 Victor, 1907-10-05
16. Hamlet (Thomas) Doute de la lumière (w. de Gogorza) 89010 C4871 Victor, 1907-10-09
17. Linda di Chamounix (Donizetti) O luce di quest’anima 88142 C6574 Victor, 1908-11-02
18. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) Ardon gl’incensi 88021 C3154 Victor, 1906-03-01
19. Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) Chi mi frena (w. Severina, Caruso, Scotti, Journet & Daddi) 96200 C5052 Victor, 1908-02-07
20. Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Dolce amor (Valzer) 88107 C5044 Victor, 1908-01-30
21. Lustige Witwe (Lehár) Dolce amor (Valzer) 88107 C5044 Victor, 1908-11-02
22. Martha (Flotow) The last rose of summer 88046 C4211 Victor, 1907-01-10
23. Martha (Flotow) The last rose of summer 88102 C4859 Victor, 1907-10-09
24. Mignon (Thomas) Connais-tu le pays 88098 C4872 Victor, 1907-10-09
25. Norma (Bellini) Casta diva… Ah! Bello a me ritorna 88104 C4877 Victor, 1907-10-11
26. Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Che soave zeffiretto (w. Eames) 95202 C5040 Victor, 1908-01-25
27. Nozze di Figaro (Mozart) Deh vieni, non tardar 88020 C3362 Victor, 1906-05-05
28. Parla (Arditi) 88023 C3153 Victor, 1906-03-14
29. Puritani (Bellini) Qui la voce…Vien diletto 88105 C4879 Victor, 1907-10-11
30. Rigoletto (Verdi) Bella figlia dell’amore (w. Severina, Caruso & Scotti) 96001 C5053 Victor, 1908-02-07
31. Rigoletto (Verdi) Caro nome 88017 C3157 Victor, 1906-03-02
32. Rigoletto (Verdi) Tutte le feste… Piangi fanciulla… Sì, vendetta (w. Sammarco) 89042 C8755 Victor, 1910-03-26
33. Semiramide (Rossini) Bel raggio lusinghier 88141 C6573 Victor, 1908-11-02
34. Si mes vers avaient des ailes! (Hahn); Wohin (Schubert) IRCC129 1908-01-30
35. Sonnambula (Bellini) Ah! non giunge 81047 B1902 Victor, 1904-11-19
36. Sonnambula (Bellini) Ah! Non giunge 88027 C3363 Victor, 1906-05-05
37. Ständchen (R Strauss) 81048 B1950 Victor, 1904-11-19
38. Tales from the Vienna Woods (Strauss) 88388 C12441 Victor, 1912-10-01
39. The lass with the delicate air (Arne) 88096 C4857 Victor, 1907-10-05
40. The Nightingale (Alabieff) 88103 C4873 Victor, 1907-10-09
41. Traviata (Verdi) Ah! fors’è lui 1366 Columbia, New York 1903
42. Traviata (Verdi) Ah! fors’è lui 85035 C1900 Victor, 1904-11-05
43. Traviata (Verdi) Ah! Fors’è lui… Sempre libera 88018 C3152 Victor, 1906-03-01
44. Traviata (Verdi) Ah! Fors’è lui… Sempre libera 88018 C3152 Victor, 1908-11-03
45. Vêpres Siciliennes (Verdi) Mercè, dilette amiche 88143 C6575 Victor, 1908-11-02
46. Voci di Primavera (Strauss) 1365 Columbia, New York 1903
47. Voci di Primavera (Strauss) 85036 C1901 Victor, 1904-11-05
48. Voci di Primavera (Strauss) 88019 C3156 Victor, 1906-03-02
49. Walzertraum (Straus) Non sai mia bella 88389 C12456 Victor, 1912-10-04
50. Zyczenie (The Maiden’s wish) (Chopin) 81050 B1952 Victor, 1904-11-19
51. Zyczenie (The maiden’s wish) (Chopin) 88100 C4875 Victor, 1907-10-09