Melitta Heim - Dell’Acqua, Villanelle, 1914 High E-flat

Описание: I posted a few choice renditions of "Villanelle" over a year ago during a segment focused on French coloratura music, but here are a couple others as part of this bird song exploration.

THE SONGBIRD: Melitta Heim (1888 - 1950) was a Viennese soprano who made her debut in Graz as Gilda in 1909. She sang with the Frankfurt Opera from 1911 to 1916 and appeared as Queen of the Night at London's Drury Lane Theater in 1912 and 1914. Her debut at the Vienna State Opera came in 1915 as Konstanze, followed by many roles there (Gilda, Violetta, Leonora in “Trovatore”, Lucia, both Philine and Mignon, Lakme, Eudoxie, Marguerite de Valois, Micaela, Zerbinetta, Woglinde, and Queen of the Night). In 1922 she experienced a nervous breakdown and retired from the stage, appearing only occasionally in concerts thereafter. Because she was Jewish, she fled to England with her mother in 1938 to avoid Nazi persecution. She lived there until her death, at times so poor she had to work as a maid to support herself.

THE MUSIC: Eva Dell'Acqua (1856 - 1930) was a Belgian composer and singer. Although she wrote many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano, and voice, all of those are now almost completely forgotten -- except for her gracious florid bird song "Villanelle" from 1893, which is one of the most performed and recorded pieces in the genre.