Dux, Claire

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Dux, Claire

Dux, Claire, German-American soprano; b. Watkowicz, Aug. 2, 1885; d. Chicago, Oct. 8, 1967. She was a student of Maria Schwadtke, Adolf Deppe, and Teresa Arkel in Berlin before completing her training in Milan. In 1906 she made her operatic debut as Pamina in Cologne, singing there until 1911. From 1911 to 1918 she was a member of the Berlin Royal Opera; she also sang in London, where she was the first British Sophie at Covent Garden (1913) and appeared as Pamina at Drury Lane (1914). After singing at Stockholm’s Royal Theater (1918–21), she was a member of the Chicago Grand (later Civic) Opera (1921–22; 1923–24); she also toured the U.S. with the German Opera Co. In 1926 she married her 3rd husband, the wealthy Chicagoan Charles H. Swift, and retired from the operatic stage. She then sang in concerts until making her farewell in Berlin in 1932.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire