Malten (real name, Müller), Thérèse

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Malten (real name, Müller), Thérèse

Malten (real name, Müller), Thérèse, esteemed German soprano; b. Insterburg, June 21,1855; d. Neuzschieren, near Dresden, Jan. 2, 1930. She was a student of Engel and Kale in Berlin. In 1873 she made her operatic debut as Pamina at the Dresden Court Opera, where she sang for some 30 years. She also made appearances in Berlin and Vienna. In 1881 Wagner heard her in Dresden and engaged her for the role of Kundry in the premiere of his Parsifal at Bayreuth (July 26, 1882). She continued to sing at Bayreuth until 1894. On May 24, 1882, she made her London debut as Beethoven’s Leonore at Drury Lane, and in 1889 she appeared in Neumann’s Ring cycles in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Marten’s most celebrated Wagnerian roles included Elsa, Elisabeth, Eva, Kundry, and Isolde.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire