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806:. This was supposed to be the first concert of a long tour, but she immediately took ill (she had possibly had a heart attack) and the tour was cancelled. She immediately returned to Vienna, where she had a long convalescence before she could return to performing with a voice that, all agreed, was never quite the same.
356:, music director of the Vienna Imperial and Royal Court Opera, heard Kurz in Frankfurt towards the end of 1898 and asked her to audition for him. He immediately offered her a contract and she made her début at the theatre that would become her artistic and spiritual home, also as Mignon, on 3 September 1899.
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Selma Kurz was a very beautiful woman, 1.6 m, fragile and delicate. Her appearance on stage and acting was attractive and very well received. She could make the public go mad with her long trills. People even came with stopwatches to determine that it was 'even one second longer than yesterday'. In a
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These circumstances led local people to raise some money so that she could go to Vienna and audition for
Professor Gänsbacher, a prominent vocal teacher who did not teach women, but wrote important letters of recommendation. Little Selma was thus enabled to visit the imposing Schloss Totis, the
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She was first heard in Vienna at a student concert of Ress pupils on 22 March 1895. She got good notices and offers poured from many opera houses, especially the ones in provincial
Germany, which were always looking for new talent. She made her début in the title role of
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in 1923–24. This is a successful series of records, even though it documents a decline in the voice. In 1924–25 she again recorded for HMV, which even made a number of electrical recordings of her singing, including a remarkable version of the "Siren Call" from
889:"Selma Kurz is one of the greatest coloratura sopranos of all times. Her effortless mastering of difficult parts, the freedom of her taste of style, but above all her endless uncomparable trills can't be overestimated and she can still be admired on CD".
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in 1937. Notwithstanding her always delicate health, Selma von Halban-Kurz had a notably happy family life in her palatial Vienna home until, in 1929, she became ill with cancer. After a battle with this disease, she died on 10 May 1933 in Vienna.
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Her very last public appearance occurred in
September 1932 at the baptism of Archduke Stefan (1932–1998), son of Archduke Anton and Princess Ileana of Romania. Although already mortally ill, the Imperial and Royal
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Her success in Vienna was swift and total, and lasted to the end of her musical career, thirty years later. Mahler himself, hearing her perfect trill and wonderfully placed high notes in
Leonora's Act IV aria in
917:) in 1907–1914. These are by far the best of her recordings, capturing the attractiveness of her tone and the exceptional agility of her vocal technique. Around 1910, she recorded three cylinders for the
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Mahler fell in love with Selma, and they had a short affair during the spring of 1900. But the Court Opera did not allow their members to marry among themselves, and Selma opted to continue her career.
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in New York. None of these managed to induce her so far from Vienna and her family. It was only in 1921 that she finally sailed for the New World, appearing one single time in concert at the
621:, where so many of her triumphs had been acclaimed by two generations of opera lovers from all over Europe and the world, took place on 12 February 1927. This appearance, as Rosina in
253:. While still a girl, she was taken to a convent to be trained as a seamstress. The nuns quickly discovered the beauty of her voice and she also often sang in the local synagogue.
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roles, Kurz did not neglect her lyric repertory. Indeed, of the 992 performances she would give at the Vienna
Hofoper (later Staatsoper), more than 100 would be devoted to Mimì in
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Halban, DĂ©si: Notes to compact discs Pearl GEMM 9171 (London, 1995) and Club "99" 43 (New York, 1989), which include many personal reminiscences from Kurz's own daughter
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Form the outset Selma Kurz was widely required all over Europe and she appeared successfully in both opera and concert at the Grand Opéra in Paris, the
Princely Opéra in
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818:(1876–1937), a professor at Vienna University, who later was knighted by the Austrian Emperor, becoming Ritter Joseph von Halban. With him she had two children,
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be buried in a lovely spot at the
Zentralfriedhof, the Central Cemetery where Vienna's great sons and daughters are interred. There she lies, not far from
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535:) in 1911 and, in one of the many high points of her Viennese career, created Zerbinetta in the world première of the second version of
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in Paris, as well as the soprano
Felicie Kaschowska, well known in Vienna; but she always called herself, above all, a pupil of Ress.
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de Galántha, who agreed to pay for her lessons with another prominent vocal pedagogue, Johannes Ress.
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festival performances organized to celebrate the composer's 150th birthday, Kurz sang
Fiordiligi in
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The Court Opera director carefully introduced her to this repertoire by letting her sing Rosina (in
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perhaps her most famous role, she held audiences spellbound with her vocalization of the so-called
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Once her career was established, Kurz consulted such world-renowned voice teachers as
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or 'Siren Call.') It also led to her being elevated to the position of
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for the next four seasons, singing diverse roles including Eudoxie in
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Selma Kurz left over 150 78-rpm recordings. The first were made for
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She recorded a number of pieces accompanied by the Czech violinist
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to a very humble Jewish family of eleven children. She grew up in
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discs, dating from 1901 to 1906. She then made a long series for
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a year later. Also in 1906, on the occasion of a much-acclaimed
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610:, her most frequently heard roles were Gilda, Violetta and the
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in the title role. This was Ruffo's only appearance in Vienna.
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In London she was first heard in May 1904 in Rigoletto, with
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It was Kurz's legendary singing in Mahler's 1903 revival of
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Stadttheater, on 12 May 1895. She appeared there and at
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company. After the First World War, she recorded for
724:' Romeo. She also repeated, in these two seasons of
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as well as her other favourite page role, Urbain in
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617:Her last performance at the great theatre in the
163:(15 October 1874 – 10 May 1933) was an Austrian
548:In Vienna she sang every imaginable role, from
1026:, Stuttgart & ZĂĽrich, Belser Verlag 1983,
814:In 1910, Selma Kurz married the gynecologist,
644:as a gesture to the baby's grandmother, Queen
1039:Semrau, Laura: Notes to compact disc Preiser
8:
959:"First the Nazis robbed us - then the Dutch"
671:. She then sang her famous page, Oscar, in
213:. Unsourced material may be challenged and
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1143:19th-century Austrian women opera singers
1138:20th-century Austrian women opera singers
448:Kaiserliche und Königliche Kammersängerin
233:Learn how and when to remove this message
1105:about her Mother, with songs and arias:
366:, suggested that she ought to study the
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454:, always a devoted admirer of her art.
1163:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery
1024:Selma Kurz, die Sängerin und ihre Zeit
510:for Vienna (1907) as well as Saffi in
1064:Unvergängliche Stimmen, Sängerlexikon
934:, complete with her trademark trill.
7:
504:. She also created that composer's
211:adding citations to reliable sources
1062:Karl-Josef Kutsch and Leo Riemens:
907:Gramophone & Typewriter Company
490:Although she had great triumphs in
261:, of the famous patron of the arts
1153:Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe)
692:The following year she again sang
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405:, Konstanze, Gilda, Violetta (in
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901:in 1900. These were followed by
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59:Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
845:. She married Dutch art dealer
741:In 1907 she was heard again at
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886:, the trill lasts 24 seconds.
761:(with Bonci and Sammarco) and
710:, Caruso, Scotti, Journet and
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1168:Deaths from cancer in Austria
1066:, Bern, Francke Verlag 1975,
470:Die EntfĂĽhrung aus dem Serail
882:1907 recording of Taubert's
728:successes, her Elisabeth in
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165:dramatic coloratura soprano
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1148:Austrian operatic sopranos
593:The Merry Wives of Windsor
755:as Edgardo. She repeated
652:Her career outside Vienna
467:in 1905 and Konstanze in
452:Franz Joseph I of Austria
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1009:Kutsch and Riemens, 1975
477:gala, she sang Gilda in
167:known for her brilliant
1096:Biography of Selma Kurz
1041:Lebendige Vergangenheit
383:), the pages Urbain in
263:count Nicholas (MiklĂłs)
245:Selma Kurz was born in
1114:includes one recording
1043:, 89504 (Vienna, 2000)
556:and Wagner's Elsa (in
1091:at Wikimedia Commons
990:selmakurz.driebond.eu
623:The Barber of Seville
380:The Barber of Seville
16:Austrian opera singer
1056:Großes Sängerlexikon
763:Un ballo in maschera
674:Un ballo in maschera
562:) and Sieglinde (in
426:Un ballo in maschera
392:Un ballo in maschera
372:prima donna assoluta
257:Viennese residence,
207:improve this section
1101:BBC-interview with
1059:, Basel, Saur, 2000
923:Deutsche Grammophon
847:Jacques Goudstikker
804:New York Hippodrome
748:Lucia di Lammermoor
738:in the title role.
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440:The Queen of Sheba,
414:Lucia di Lammermoor
932:The Queen of Sheba
884:Der Vogel im Walde
800:Metropolitan Opera
712:Clarence Whitehill
606:. Next to Mimì in
523:She sang Tatiana (
435:The Queen of Sheba
35:Selma Kurz in 1900
1158:People from Biała
1087:Media related to
1047:Karl-Josef Kutsch
965:. April 11, 1998.
717:Roméo et Juliette
598:Johann Strauss II
596:and Rosalinde in
542:Ariadne auf Naxos
532:Der Rosenkavalier
517:Der Zigeunerbaron
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993:. Retrieved
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986:"Selma Kurz"
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939:Váša PĹ™Ăhoda
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769:) and added
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109:Josef Halban
75:(1933-05-10)
1133:1933 deaths
1128:1874 births
1053:, editors:
1051:Leo Riemens
827: [
788:La traviata
658:Monte Carlo
565:Die WalkĂĽre
550:Tchaikovsky
485:Titta Ruffo
408:La traviata
171:technique.
144: [
73:10 May 1933
1122:Categories
1112:Selma Kurz
1107:Selma Kurz
1089:Selma Kurz
945:References
893:Recordings
810:Last years
731:Tannhäuser
726:coloratura
681:, Caruso,
619:RingstraĂźe
492:coloratura
332:Tannhäuser
175:Early life
169:coloratura
161:Selma Kurz
92:Occupation
47:1874-10-15
23:Selma Kurz
903:Zonophone
863:Beethoven
782:La bohème
758:Rigoletto
720:opposite
641:Ave Maria
614:Leonora.
612:Trovatore
608:La bohème
559:Lohengrin
501:La bohème
480:Rigoletto
301:'s opera
266:Esterházy
194:does not
95:Operatic
867:Schubert
771:Catalani
637:and the
580:Massenet
520:(1910).
430:Goldmark
322:La Juive
128:Children
995:May 18,
927:Polydor
820:Désirée
776:Loreley
751:, with
734:, with
677:, with
588:Nicolai
554:Iolanta
496:Puccini
483:, with
444:Lockruf
309:Hamburg
307:at the
251:Bielitz
215:removed
200:sources
122:
114:
97:soprano
85:Austria
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919:Edison
871:Brahms
859:Mozart
835:Mahler
765:(with
570:Gounod
475:Caruso
459:Mozart
398:Ernani
349:Vienna
342:Carmen
327:Wagner
317:Halévy
304:Mignon
287:Career
103:Spouse
81:Vienna
913:(now
841:with
831:]
824:Georg
584:Manon
575:Faust
403:Lakmé
337:Bizet
292:DĂ©but
154:1915)
148:]
138:1912)
116:(
112:
55:Biala
1068:ISBN
1049:and
1028:ISBN
997:2023
905:and
869:and
785:and
685:and
667:and
335:and
279:and
277:Nice
198:any
196:cite
70:Died
41:Born
915:EMI
911:HMV
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45:(
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