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(1) Giuseppe Kaschmann (14 Jul 1850 - 7 Feb 1925): Italian
baritone: First studied law, then singing with Alberto Giovanni. Debut (1876) in
Turin as Alfonso in la Favorita. Performed in Spain, Portugal, La Scala,
Teatro Costanzi, Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, St. Petersburg, Moscow,
Monte Carlo, Cairo, Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), Bayreuth, Rio de Janeiro.
(2)
German tenor Heinrich Knote
(1870-1953) as Siegfried. He made his debut (1892) as Georg in Der
Waffenschmied at the Munich Royal Opera. He began in buffo roles but
quickly developed the heroic tenor voice for which he was noted. As a member of
the Metropolitan Opera (1904-08), he appeared in Götterdämmerung, Königin von
Saba, Siegfried, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde, Der Zigeunerbaron,
Meistersinger, Fliegende Holländer, and Trovatore.
(3) Soprano, Salomena
Krusceniski (23 Sep 1873 - 16 Nov 1952) as Elektra (the first in Italy). She
studied in Lwow with Wysocki and made her debut there in 1893 (La favorita).
She was Cio-Cio-San at Brescia (1904) for the successful reworking of Madama
Butterfly. She created Fedra in Pizzetti's opera of the same name. She sang
a number of roles and was well known for her vocal and dramatic range.
(4)
Valentina Kusa:
Russian soprano. Kusa was seen principally at the Mariinsky Theatre. In
1905 she was released from the Mariinsky when she publicly refused her hand to a
Tsarist officer of the Guard. That courage made her quite popular with the
people, who showered her with affection during her subsequent recitals.
(5) Dr. Paul Kuhn (Schlesien:
12 Sep 1874 - New York: 20 Jun 1966). Buffo-tenor. Studied in Breslau. Sang in
Munich, Darmstadt, Salzburg, Bayreuth. He and his wife (Charlotte Kuhn-Brunner)
emigrated to the United States in 1933 for political reasons. Seen here as
Pedrillo.
(6)
Soprano
Maria
Kuznetsova-Benois (1880-1966) was at first a
ballet dancer at the Alexandra Theatre in St. Petersburg before studying singing
with Joachim Tartakov in that same city. Her opera debut (1905) was at the
Mariinsky Theatre as Marguerite in Faust. It wasn't long before she was
regarded as one of the most brilliant, beautiful, and sensitive singers of her
time, but like Lina Cavalieri, perhaps many of the kudos were generated by her
own persistent and public self-advertisements. In 1908 she was invited to the
Paris Opéra, where she repeated the vocal successes she had in St. Petersburg,
and even appeared (with only mild success) as Potiphar's wife in a 1914 Paris
ballet production of La Légende
de Saint Joseph (R. Strauss) with Serge Diaghilev
as Potiphar. At the Monte Carlo Opera she was engaged to premiere two operas by
Massenet. In 1912 she created Fausta in Roma in which she was called "a
feast to the eyes" and "the prettiest and most seductive Fausta that one might
wish for." For Cléopâtre, Massenet wanted the mezzo-soprano Lucy Arbell,
but after Massenet's death the 1914 world premiere was scheduled with
Kousnietzoff (as she was known in France) in the title role. The dismayed Arbell
instituted legal action but lost. During the litigation she contended that over
288 posthumous changes were made to Massenet's original work to accommodate a
soprano instead of a contralto. Arbell did eventually sing the role in both
Nantes and Bordeaux. In 1915 Kousnietzoff married a French citizen. Three years
later she left Russia permanently for France. With limited success, she even
organized Russian companies (the Opéra Russe) to introduce Russian opera to the
French audiences. In 1920 she became a film actress. After the age of fifty she
confined her appearances to recitals.
(7) Fritz Krauss (16 Jun 1883 -
28 Feb 1976). Tenor. He sang in Köln from 1915-1921.
(8) Jan Kiepura (16
May 1902 - 15 Aug 1966): Polish tenor. Debut (1924) in Lvov in Faust.
Sang in Warsaw for awhile before embarking on a brilliant career at the Vienna
State Opera. Also appear at La Scala, Opéra-Comique, Berlin State Opera,
Teatro Colón, Chicago Opera and Metropolitan Opera. In the 1930s he started to
appear in films, often with his wife, Marta Eggerth. Broadway in The Merry
Widow.
(9) Hilde Konetzni.
Austrian soprano (Vienna: 21 Mar 1905 - Vienna: 20 Apr 1980). She studied at the Vienna
Conservatory initially. Two years after her sister, Anny, made her debut, Hilde
made her debut in Chemnitz as Sieglinde at the same theater. Both she and her
sister specialized in German roles and even performed together on occasion.
Hilde was especially popular in Vienna.
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(10)
Austrian soprano
Anny Konetzni
(12 Feb 1902 - Vienna: 6 Sep 1968) as Valentine in Les Huguenots.
She studied in Vienna under Erik Schmedes and in Berlin with Stückgold.
She made her debut (1927) in Chemnitz. She sang primarily in Berlin, Vienna, and
London. Her Metropolitan Opera debut occurred in 1934 as Brünnhilde in Die
Walküre. Anny's sister, soprano Hilde Konetzni, enjoyed a highly successful
career.
(11)
Hungarian mezzo-soprano
Sabine Kalter
(1889-1957) as Lady Macbeth, a role for which she was particularly known. She
made her opera debut in Vienna (1911). In Hamburg, where she made her first
appearance in 1915, she replaced Ottilie Metzger as their principal mezzo. She
remained there until Nazi occupation forced her to leave. She took up
residence in England in 1935, the year the singer left her signature on the
back of this postcard.
(12) Vladimir Ivanovich Kastorsky (14 Mar
1871 - 2 Jul 1948). Russian bass who was first heard singing in the choir of a
St. Petersburg church. He studied with S. I. Gabel, and was with a touring
opera company before being engaged by the Mariinsky Theatre in 1898, where he
remained for 32 years. His major roles included the Miller (Rusalka),
Susanin (Life for the Tsar), Ruslan (Ruslan and Ljudmila), and
Gremin (Eugene Onegin). At the end of his career he taught singing at
the Leningrad Conservatory.
(13) German tenor Walter Kirchhoff (1879-1951)
studied with Lilli Lehmann and Robert Weiss. He made his debut (1906) at the
Berlin Imperial Opera as Faust. He was particularly noted as a Wagnerian
singer. As Walter von Stolzing (seen here) in a 1913 Meistersinger at
Covent Garden, The Times said, "Mr. Kirchhoff gives what one so rarely
gets in a Wagnerian tenor, a combination of vocal power and manly personality,
which is essential to a satisfactory representation." Kirchhoff sang at the 1911-14 Bayreuth Festivals,
during which time he also served as the chief administrative assistant to the
Crown Prince of Germany.
(14) German tenor Ernst Kraus
(1863-1941) as Siegfried. Early in his career Kraus toured the United States
with the Damrosch Opera Company. He appeared at the Metropolitan Opera during
the 1903-04 season, and at Covent Garden. This handsome tenor was the leading
tenor for twenty-seven years at the Berlin Opera where this work first appeared.
He made his debut (1893) in Mannheim as Tamino in Zauberflöte.
(15)
Austrian soprano
Selma Kurz
(1874-1933) was a Marchesi pupil. She made her debut (1895) at the Hamburg Opera
as Mignon. She was invited by Mahler to the Vienna Imperial Opera where she
found a home for the next thirty years. She was noted for her exceptional trill
that she could hold for a tremendous length of time, paralyzing her
audiences. She is seen here as Cio-Cio-San with her real-life daughter,
Desi Halban.
(16) Tenor Lev Klementyev (1868-1910).
He began his career in operetta and then grand opera during his days at the
Kiev Opera and Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre. He was especially admired in the
title role of Rubinstein's Nero, not particularly for his singing but
rather for the way he interjected his own real pretensions and irremissible
behavior into the character. Klementyev died at the height of his power from
peritonitis that could have responded to surgery. Instead, he went ahead with
a concert performance that cost him his life.
(17) German tenor Heinrich Knote
(1870-1953) as Walther von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger.
(18)
Paul Knüpfer
(1865-1920) as Gurnemanz in Parsifal. He spent most of his career at
the Berlin Imperial Opera where he was a noted buffo bass. He sang
Baron Ochs in the Berlin premiere of Der Rosenkavalier. He often
performed with his wife, soprano Maria Knüpfer-Egli.
(19)
Austrian soprano Melanie Kurt
(1880-1941) was trained by the Lehmann sisters, Lilli and Marie. She made her
debut (1902) in Lubeck as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. She had an
international career, appearing in Milan, Vienna, Budapest, Dresden, London,
New York, and throughout Germany. She sang for three seasons (1914-17) at the
Metropolitan Opera where her Brünnhilde was "a performance on her part worthy
of the best traditions of the house." At the outbreak of World War I she was
advised to return to Austria. Eventually she emigrated to the United States.
Seen here as Isolde.
(20)
Russian
baritone Oscar Isaevich Kamionsky
(1869-1917). He studied at the St. Petersburg Conservatory with S. I. Gabel
and O. O. Palechek. He made his debut (1892) in Naples (1892: Teatro Bellini),
where he went for further studies. Before joining the opera in Kharkov in
1893, he sang in Florence and Athens. As the preeminent
Russian baritone of the period he took his escalated image to heart. Although
he has been described as self-centered in nature, no one could doubt the
brilliance and accuracy of his singing. His early death has been attributed to
cancer.
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