Description

OLIVE FREMSTAD (STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, 14 MARCH, 1871 – IRVINGTON, NEW YORK, USA, 21 APRIL, 1951)

 

 

 

 

Her real name was Olivia Rundquist. Her father was a doctor. Already as a child she played the organ. At the age of ten, she moved to the USA and was adopted by an American couple. Initially a pianist, she later studied singing under E. F. Bristol in New York.

In 1890, Rundquist performed the role of Lady Saphir in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta Patience in Boston. She gave her first professional concert at the New York Lenox Lyceum in 1891. In 1893, she traveled to Europe to study with the renowned soprano Lilli Lehmann.

Rundquist made her operatic debut in 1895 at the Opernhaus of Cologne, performing as Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore. Following her retirement from the stage, she returned to New York, where she devoted herself to teaching singing.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1893-1895 Cologne Opernhaus Trovatore (Azucena) (Debut)

1896 Bayreuth Festival

1900-1903 Munich Hofoper

1902-1903 London Covent Garden Lohengrin (Ortrud)

1903 Bayreuth Festival

1903 New York Metropolitan Opera Walküre Sieglinde (Debut)

1906 New York Metropolitan Opera Carmen (Carmen)

1906 San Francisco Opera Carmen (Carmen)

1907 New York Metropolitan Opera Salome (Salome) (American Premiere)

1907 Paris Théâtre Châtelet

1910-1914 New York Metropolitan Opera Armida (Armida)

1910 Paris Grand Opéra Armida (Armida)

1918 Minneapolis Opera Tosca (Tosca)

1920 New York Aeolian Hall Concert

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

1. Ach, wie ist es möglich (trad) A1488 39074-1 Columbia, New York 1913-10-28
2. Annie Laurie (Scott) A5273 30637-1 Columbia, New York 1911-01-14
3. Carmen (Bizet) Seguidilla A5282 30646-2 Columbia, New York 1911-01-31
4. Don Carlos (Verdi) O don fatale A5521 36807-3 Columbia, New York 1913-11-07
5. Lohengrin (Wagner) Elsas Traum A5281 30645-1 Columbia, New York 1911-01-30
6. Long, long ago (Bayly) A5273 30636-1 Columbia, New York 1911-01-14
7. Mignon (Thomas) Connais-tu le pays A1505 39060-2 Columbia, New York 1913-10-23
8. Stille Nacht (Gruber) 30708 30708-1 Columbia, New York 1911-03-30
9. Tannhäuser (Wagner) Dich, teure Halle A5281 30635-2 Columbia, New York 1911-01-21
10. Tosca (Puccini) Ora stammi a sentir A1505 39061-1 Columbia, New York 1913-10-23
11. Tosca (Puccini) Vissi d’arte 30644 A5282 Columbia, New York 1911-01-21
12. Tristan und isolde (Wagner) Liebestod A5521 30707-2 Columbia, New York 1913-11-05
13. Walküre (Wagner) Du bist der Lenz A1451 39081-1 Columbia, New York 1913-11-05
14. Walküre (Wagner) Ho-yo-to-ho A1451 39073-1 Columbia, New York 1913-10-28
15. Wiegenlied (Brahms) A1488 39062-1 Columbia, New York 1913-10-23