MARIA KAMENSKAYA Mezzo-Soprano CDV photograph as Charlotte in Werther

Description

Vezenberg of St. Petersburg carte de visite photograph as Charlotte in "Werther".
The mezzo was brought up by her mother and grandmother, both teachers of the Mariinsky Institute. She studied with Henriette Nissen at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Kamenskaya made her stage debut at the Mariinsky in 1874, thereafter becoming their leading mezzo-soprano until her retirement. She did however have a brief retirement between 1887 to 1891. In 1901, she was named by Nicholas II, Soloist to His Majesty. The mezzo created numerous roles including the title role Jeanne d'Arc in Tchaikovsky's "Maid of Orleans", as well as Martha in the composer' opera "Iolanta". She created the role of Yegorovna in Napravnik's opera "Dubrovsky" as well as the roles of Vesna-Krasnaya in Rimsky's opera "The Snow Maiden" and Solokha in "The Night Before Christmas". She sung 36 roles in 34 operas from the young shepherd in "Tannhauser" to Marthe in "Mefistofele" to Brangaene in "Tristan und Isolde". While Tchaikovsky, Cui, Napravnik, Rimsky, Rubinstein and Glazunov all dedicated songs to her, she really didn't take the concert stage seriously until 1906. Thereafter she performed both as a lieder singer, as well as a soloist in symphonic concerts.
The two marks in the photograph are overexposure in the image and not damage. The count has some emulsion removed from past insertion in a carte album.
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