Anna Grobecker
Anna Grobecker, sometimes referred to by her maiden name Anna Mejo or as Anna Grobecker-Mejo,[1] (27 July 1829 – 27 September 1908) was a German mezzo-soprano who appeared in many operas and operettas. She was a skilled comic actress and was most popular in "trousers roles".[2]
Life and career
[edit]Anna Mejo was born in Breslau, Kingdom of Prussia on 27 July 1829.[1][3] She was the daughter of opera singers Franz Mejo and Rosa Mejo-Straub, one of their seven children, all of whom had stage careers.[4] Her sister was the operatic soprano Jenny Mejo.[1] She began her career on the stage as a child;[1] making her first appearance at a very young age in Breslau in a production of Der Rattenfänger von Hameln (English: Pied Piper of Hamelin) that was directed by her father.[3]
After working for several years as a child performer at the Hoftheater Braunschweig,[1] Mejo performed her first adult role at the age of 15 in Magdeburg in 1844.[3] In 1848 she appeared in a stage play in Leipzig in which she performed two songs. Her singing in this production drew the attention of the Berlin theatre director Carl who subsequently had Grobecker trained as a soubrette.[1] In 1850 she married the actor Philipp Grobecker, and was thereafter known by the name Anna Grobecker.[1]
Grobecker performed in Berlin as a soubrette from 1850 - 1858.[4] In 1858, during a guest appearance in Budapest, she was seen by Johann Nestroy, who brought her to Vienna.[2] There she appeared at the Carltheater in operettas, especially in the works of Jacques Offenbach and Franz von Suppé, until 1871.[4]
Anna Grobecker was the first operetta singer to be invited to perform for the Imperial Court in Vienna, in 1861.[4] In 1865, she made a guest appearance at the Meysels-Theater, Berlin, creating the trousers part of Ganymed in Suppe's Die schöne Galathée.[5] In 1869, she made guest appearances in Paris, by the arrangement of Offenbach, and was known as "the Queen of the trousers roles".[4] She was married to actor Phillip Grobecker between 1856 and 1860.[4]
She retired in 1874 and divided her time between Italy and Austria.[4] She died on 27 September 1908 in Althofen, Austria.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g Kutsch, K. J.; Riemens, Leo (2003). "Grobecker, Anna". In Rost, Hansjörg (ed.). Grosses Sängerlexikon (in German). K. G. Saur Verlag. p. 1847.
- ^ a b Eisenberg, Ludwig (1903). Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert. Leipzig: Paul List. p. 352.
- ^ a b c d Gänzl, Kurt (2001). "GROBECKER, Anna". The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre, Second Edition. Vol. II. Schirmer Books. ISBN 978-0-02-865573-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Grobecker (geb. Mejo), Anna Franz". www.musiklexikon.ac.at (in German). Institut für kunst- und musikhistorische. 2002. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Lamb, Andrew (2001). "Schöne Galathee, Die". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
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