She was born in Kassel, the daughter of a poor musician, Johann Schmeling. From him she learnt to play the violin, and while still a child, her playing at the fair at Frankfurt was so remarkable that money was collected to provide for her. She was helped by influential friends, and studied under Johann Adam Hiller in Leipzig for five years, alongside Corona Schröter, proving to be endowed with a wonderful soprano voice. She began to sing in public in 1771, and was soon recognized as the greatest singer that Germany had produced. She was permanently engaged for the Prussian court in Berlin, but her marriage to a debauched cellist named Mara created difficulties, and in 1780 she was released. After singing in Vienna, Munich and elsewhere, she appeared in Paris in 1782, where her rivalry with the singer Luísa Todi split the public into Todists and Maratists. In 1784 she went to London and continued to appear there with great success, with visits at intervals to Italy and to Paris till 1802, when for some years she retired to Russia, where she lost her fortune at the time of the French invasion. She visited England again in 1819, but then abandoned the stage.
She went to Livonia, where she became a music teacher in Reval, and died there in 1833 in extreme poverty; she was buried at Kopli cemetery.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mara, Gertrud Elisabeth". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 667.
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Portraits on the National Portrait Gallery site
January 16, 2023
gertrud, elisabeth, mara, this, article, includes, list, references, related, reading, external, links, sources, remain, unclear, because, lacks, inline, citations, please, help, improve, this, article, introducing, more, precise, citations, january, 2013, lea. This article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Gertrud Elisabeth Mara nee Schmeling 23 February 1749 20 January 1833 was a German operatic soprano Gertrud Elisabeth MaraGertrud Elisabeth Mara by Louise Elisabeth Vigee Le BrunBornGertrud Elisabeth Schmeling 1749 02 23 23 February 1749KasselDied20 January 1833 1833 01 20 aged 83 LivoniaNationalityGermanOccupationoperatic soprano Life EditShe was born in Kassel the daughter of a poor musician Johann Schmeling From him she learnt to play the violin and while still a child her playing at the fair at Frankfurt was so remarkable that money was collected to provide for her She was helped by influential friends and studied under Johann Adam Hiller in Leipzig for five years alongside Corona Schroter proving to be endowed with a wonderful soprano voice She began to sing in public in 1771 and was soon recognized as the greatest singer that Germany had produced She was permanently engaged for the Prussian court in Berlin but her marriage to a debauched cellist named Mara created difficulties and in 1780 she was released After singing in Vienna Munich and elsewhere she appeared in Paris in 1782 where her rivalry with the singer Luisa Todi split the public into Todists and Maratists In 1784 she went to London and continued to appear there with great success with visits at intervals to Italy and to Paris till 1802 when for some years she retired to Russia where she lost her fortune at the time of the French invasion She visited England again in 1819 but then abandoned the stage She went to Livonia where she became a music teacher in Reval and died there in 1833 in extreme poverty she was buried at Kopli cemetery References Edit Elisabeth Mara Brockhaus Conversations Lexikon vol 3 pp 59 62 Amsterdam 1809 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Mara Gertrud Elisabeth Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 17 11th ed Cambridge University Press p 667 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain Gilman D C Peck H T Colby F M eds 1905 New International Encyclopedia 1st ed New York Dodd Mead a href Template Cite encyclopedia html title Template Cite encyclopedia cite encyclopedia a Missing or empty title help Further ReadingIsabelle Emerson 2005 7 Five Centuries of Women Singers Praeger Publishing p 77 ISBN 9780313308109 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Elisabeth Mara Biography in French Portraits on the National Portrait Gallery site Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gertrud Elisabeth Mara amp oldid 1130962693, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
