Marie Charlotte Cäcilie Geistinger (1836â€"1903) was a celebrated
Austrian actress and operatic soprano, known as the "Queen of
Operetta". She frequently appeared in works by Jacques Offenbach,
Johann Strauss II and Franz von Suppé. She achieved particular
acclaim for performing Rosalinda in the première of Die Fledermaus at
the Theater an der Wien in 1874. In 1881, her debut at the Thalia
Theatre in New York was well received.Born in Graz on 26 July 1836,
Geistinger was the daughter of the Russian court actors Nikolaus
Geistinger, an opera singer, and his wife Charlotte, who was the
granddaughter of the Brunswick court actor Karl Grassmann. Well
educated, she was given a sound introduction to music by K. M. Wolf in
Vienna. From 1844, she appeared in children's roles in Graz. She made
her official début in August 1850 at the Max-Schaiger Theatre in
Munich.Apart from appearing in the title role of Johann Wilhelm
Christern's Die falsche Pepita at Vienna's Theater in der Josefstadt
in 1852, she spent the next dozen years abroad, acting and singing on
the stages of Berlin, Hamburg and Riga. In 1865, Friedrich Strampfer,
the director of Vienna's Theater an der Wien, invited her to return to
Austria to star in the title role of Jacques Offenbach's operetta La
Belle Hélène. Offenbach commented that he had never seen a better
performance of the role and that she was the greatest operetta
performer he had seen. Thanks to this success, she went on to take
leading roles in other works by Offenbach including Barbe-bleue,
Coscoletto, Les bergers, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Le
Corsaire noir, Fantasio, Madame l'archiduc and Geneviève de Brabant.
She also performed in other operettas, including von Suppé's Die
schöne Galathee. In the early 1970s, Geistinger was largely
responsible for the success of Strauss's Viennese operettas, starring
in the premières of Indigo und die vierzig Räuber (1871), Der
Karneval in Rom (1873), Die Fledermaus (1874, in the role of
Rosalinda), and Cagliostro in Wien (1875), in which she created the
role of Lorenza Feliciani in 1875. She also acted in plays, taking the
role of Leni in Alois Berla's Drei Paar Schuhe and that of Anna
Birkmeier in Ludwig Anzengruber's Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld.In 1869,
still continuing to perform on the stage, she joined Maximilian
Steiner as co-director of the Theater an der Wien. After the theatre
ran into financial difficulties following the stock market crash of
1875, she gave up her management role, increasingly accepting the
higher fees she received for guest performances at the Wiener
Stadttheater. There she played the title role in Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart, Queen Elizabeth I in Heinrich Laube's Graf Essex, the
title role in Franz Grillparzer's Sappho, and Beatrice in
Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. In the late 1870s, she was
engaged by a theatre in Leipzig, where she performed in dramas and
tragedies. In 1880, she returned to Vienna's Theater an der Wien for a
short period, successfully performing in Offenbach's German versions
of Madame Favart (in the title role) and La fille du tambour-major as
Stella. She also appeared as Lotti Grießmeyer in Ludwig Held's Die
Näherin.
Austrian actress and operatic soprano, known as the "Queen of
Operetta". She frequently appeared in works by Jacques Offenbach,
Johann Strauss II and Franz von Suppé. She achieved particular
acclaim for performing Rosalinda in the première of Die Fledermaus at
the Theater an der Wien in 1874. In 1881, her debut at the Thalia
Theatre in New York was well received.Born in Graz on 26 July 1836,
Geistinger was the daughter of the Russian court actors Nikolaus
Geistinger, an opera singer, and his wife Charlotte, who was the
granddaughter of the Brunswick court actor Karl Grassmann. Well
educated, she was given a sound introduction to music by K. M. Wolf in
Vienna. From 1844, she appeared in children's roles in Graz. She made
her official début in August 1850 at the Max-Schaiger Theatre in
Munich.Apart from appearing in the title role of Johann Wilhelm
Christern's Die falsche Pepita at Vienna's Theater in der Josefstadt
in 1852, she spent the next dozen years abroad, acting and singing on
the stages of Berlin, Hamburg and Riga. In 1865, Friedrich Strampfer,
the director of Vienna's Theater an der Wien, invited her to return to
Austria to star in the title role of Jacques Offenbach's operetta La
Belle Hélène. Offenbach commented that he had never seen a better
performance of the role and that she was the greatest operetta
performer he had seen. Thanks to this success, she went on to take
leading roles in other works by Offenbach including Barbe-bleue,
Coscoletto, Les bergers, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein, Le
Corsaire noir, Fantasio, Madame l'archiduc and Geneviève de Brabant.
She also performed in other operettas, including von Suppé's Die
schöne Galathee. In the early 1970s, Geistinger was largely
responsible for the success of Strauss's Viennese operettas, starring
in the premières of Indigo und die vierzig Räuber (1871), Der
Karneval in Rom (1873), Die Fledermaus (1874, in the role of
Rosalinda), and Cagliostro in Wien (1875), in which she created the
role of Lorenza Feliciani in 1875. She also acted in plays, taking the
role of Leni in Alois Berla's Drei Paar Schuhe and that of Anna
Birkmeier in Ludwig Anzengruber's Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld.In 1869,
still continuing to perform on the stage, she joined Maximilian
Steiner as co-director of the Theater an der Wien. After the theatre
ran into financial difficulties following the stock market crash of
1875, she gave up her management role, increasingly accepting the
higher fees she received for guest performances at the Wiener
Stadttheater. There she played the title role in Friedrich Schiller's
Mary Stuart, Queen Elizabeth I in Heinrich Laube's Graf Essex, the
title role in Franz Grillparzer's Sappho, and Beatrice in
Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing. In the late 1870s, she was
engaged by a theatre in Leipzig, where she performed in dramas and
tragedies. In 1880, she returned to Vienna's Theater an der Wien for a
short period, successfully performing in Offenbach's German versions
of Madame Favart (in the title role) and La fille du tambour-major as
Stella. She also appeared as Lotti Grießmeyer in Ludwig Held's Die
Näherin.
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