Lina Abarbanell (January 3, 1879 â€" January 6, 1963) was a
German-American soprano singer who performed in grand and light opera
and musical comedy. She made her debut at sixteen at the Neues
Theatre, Berlin and was first introduced to American theatergoers in
1905 as the soubrette in the Josef Strauss operetta Frühlingsluft
(Spring Air). Abarbanell made opera history later that year as Hänsel
in The Met's debut production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und
Gretel. Abarbanell spent the following near thirty years performing on
Broadway and at venues across America. After her husband's death in
1934, Abarbanell left the stage, but remained active over virtually
the remainder of her life as a Broadway casting director, producer,
and stage director.Lina Abarbanell was born in Berlin, Germany to Paul
and Marie Abarbanell. Her father, a descendant of a prominent
Sephardic Jewish family of Bulgarian descent, was a well-known Berlin
musical director.She trained for the stage under her father and at
schools in Berlin and Vienna. Abarbanell made her first appearances on
stage at the age of six or seven before making her professional debut
in the mid-1890s at the Neues Theatre. At the Deutsches Theater,
Berlin she was among the cast that supported Josef Kainz in an 1896
revival of Lupaci Vagabundus, or the Good-For-Nothing Clover Leaf, a
farce by Johann Nestroy. After some additional musical training, the
following year she joined the Grand Opera, Poznań (then part of the
German Empire) performing in Les Huguenots, Hänsel und Gretel, The
Geisha, and as Hadvig Ekdal in Ibsen's The Wild Duck. Later Abarbanell
appeared in Die Fledermaus at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, and
commenced on a tour of opera houses in Germany, Belgium, Denmark,
Austria and the Netherlands.
German-American soprano singer who performed in grand and light opera
and musical comedy. She made her debut at sixteen at the Neues
Theatre, Berlin and was first introduced to American theatergoers in
1905 as the soubrette in the Josef Strauss operetta Frühlingsluft
(Spring Air). Abarbanell made opera history later that year as Hänsel
in The Met's debut production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hänsel und
Gretel. Abarbanell spent the following near thirty years performing on
Broadway and at venues across America. After her husband's death in
1934, Abarbanell left the stage, but remained active over virtually
the remainder of her life as a Broadway casting director, producer,
and stage director.Lina Abarbanell was born in Berlin, Germany to Paul
and Marie Abarbanell. Her father, a descendant of a prominent
Sephardic Jewish family of Bulgarian descent, was a well-known Berlin
musical director.She trained for the stage under her father and at
schools in Berlin and Vienna. Abarbanell made her first appearances on
stage at the age of six or seven before making her professional debut
in the mid-1890s at the Neues Theatre. At the Deutsches Theater,
Berlin she was among the cast that supported Josef Kainz in an 1896
revival of Lupaci Vagabundus, or the Good-For-Nothing Clover Leaf, a
farce by Johann Nestroy. After some additional musical training, the
following year she joined the Grand Opera, Poznań (then part of the
German Empire) performing in Les Huguenots, Hänsel und Gretel, The
Geisha, and as Hadvig Ekdal in Ibsen's The Wild Duck. Later Abarbanell
appeared in Die Fledermaus at the Royal Opera House, Berlin, and
commenced on a tour of opera houses in Germany, Belgium, Denmark,
Austria and the Netherlands.
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