Maria Ivogün was born Inge von Günter, and the daughter of a Hungarian officer and the singer Ida Günter. When her parents separated, she moved to Switzerland where she was raised and educated. Maria Ivogün began her musical studies in Vienna at the Imperial Academy, studying singing with Irene Schlemmer-Ambros and acting with Professors Frauscher and Stoll. As has been the case of many imminent people, Ivogün had criticism, which she overcame and showed critics off. When two men, Bruno Walter and Hans Gregor attended an audition for the Vienna Imperial Opera where Ivogün was performing, after the concert, Gregor turned to Walter and said, “Not a chance!” Walter hurried backstage to sign the young woman to be a member of the Munich Opera. Even though her plans were originally to work her way up through the smaller stadttheaters of Germany, Walter persuaded her.
Ivogün debuted in Munich, in 1913, as a guest singer playing the role of Mimi, in La Boheme. She became a member of the Munich opera. Then, later that year, she stood in for a singer who was to sing in Mozart’s Magic Flute as the “Queen of the Night” who had taken ill. She received great acclaim for her performance and began to make a name for herself in Munich. She discontinued her membership at the Munich Opera in the year 1925.
By 1916, Ivogün had become the female star of the company and was performing with the best singers in Europe. In 1921, she married her first husband Karl Erb, whom she met at a performance. He too was an imminent singer. She starred in operas such as Fidelio, Cosi fan Tutti, Nozze di Figaro, and Les Huguenots. She later divorced Erb, and then was married to her accompanist Michael Raucheisen. No matter how famous she became, she never lost the shyness that Walter had seen on their first meeting. She never thought of herself as a star and avoided the trap of becoming a Prima Donna. However, she was assertive if needed to be.
The Research paper on The Washington Opera
Abstract This report is based on the development of The Washington Opera especially its “world-class” strategy. Between 1995 and 1998, the trustees of TWO established three steps. This case analyzes its “world-class” strategy and problems it brings. It appears that TWO’s first two steps were almost successful, but its ambitious developments resulted in financial problems when processing the third ...
In 1921, the Furstner Company, the publishers of Richard Strauss, issued an order—restraining singers from singing excerpts in concerts if the entire opera had not yet been sung in that city. Ivogün wrote a rebuke personally to Strauss who responded in a letter on July 8, 1921, “I am scared to death of your furious letter. The danger that you won’t sing your incomparable Zerbinetta anymore must shake a poor author. With you we shall make a rare exception…please do not hurt a poor composer mischievously….” Lastly, a statement about Ivoguen from herself; “One has often said that I have made my way thanks to my natural gifts. Here, let me tell you once, in black and white, that I have worked day and night with endless pains, with hot tears of sadness and even despair, with giving up interests that could divert and use up strength…Not fame, high fees or titles should be the initiative, they are not worth by themselves that you sacrifice your life blood…the selfless love for this, our profession, must be the motive.”
From 1948 to 1950 Maria taught at the Music Academy in Vienna. After her teachings in Vienna, she traveled to Berlin, Germany where she became a professor at the Musik Hochscule. She very much enjoyed teaching students they joys of music.
Ivogün died in 1987. She has made a deep mark in our minds as one of the most talented and most popular singers of our era. With her help, operas in Germany between the wars became some of the richest in Europe. Her place in opera history is one of a woman who gave up everything she had for everything she wanted, to provide joy and beauty to all who heard her.
Bibliography
Information:
The Milton Cross New Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music
[By] Milton Cross and David Ewen.
By Cross, Milton, 1897-
The Essay on Jean Baptiste Lully French Opera Music
Jean Baptiste Lully was a prolific composer who is best known for establishing French Opera. (Boynick) Born in Florence on the 28 th of November 1632, (Boynick) Giovanni Battista Lully was a miller's son. (Sadie 2000 pg 166) Lully first arrived in France in March of 1646 (Jean Baptiste Lully) to work as an attendant for a female courtier. (Sadie 2000 pg. 166) "During his six years in her ...
Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, 1969.
Information:
http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/3744/Ivoguen.html
Picture:
http://www.classicalcdreview.com/IVOGUN.htm
Note:
The plays need to be underlined and the schools and ‘Munich Opera’ need to be italicized.
