Ethel Hansa
Born
Ethel Parker

September 1884 or 1888
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Diedafter 1950
OccupationOpera singer

Ethel Hansa (September 1884 or 1888[1] – after 1952), also billed as Ethel Parker-Hansa, was an American-born opera vocalist, a soprano, active in Germany during the 1910s and 1920s.

Early life

Ethel M. Parker was born in Philadelphia,[2] the daughter of George L. Parker Sr. and Hattie M. Barber Parker.[3][4] She studied voice with Mathilde Marchesi in Paris,[5] with further studies in Vienna and Berlin.[6]

Career

Hansa sang with the Berlin State Opera from 1914 to 1925.[5][7][8] She was "one of the few American singers who elected to remain in Berlin during the troublous times of war", noted Musical America in 1915.[9] Some of her roles included Gilda in Rigoletto,[10] Rosina in Paisiello's The Barber of Seville,[11] Mimi in La bohème, Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly, Filina in Mignon, Olympia in The Tales of Hoffmann, the title role in Martha, Nuri in Tiefland, Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier.[12] She appeared in one German silent film, Die Hochzeit im Excentricclub (Wedding at the Eccentric Club, 1917). She sang on a German recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in 1923.[5][13][14]

Hansa, who retained her US citizenship, stayed in Germany during both World Wars.[15] She worked as a secretary at the Ninth Air Force headquarters in Bad Kissingen in the immediate aftermath of World War II. She taught music in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, later in the 1940s.[16]

Personal life

Ethel Parker married electrical engineer Arthur Victor Hansa in 1907; he was born in Graz, Austria. They had a son, George Arthur Hansa, born in Philadelphia in 1908. She returned to the United States in 1946.[3] She was listed as a survivor in her father's obituary in 1951.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Ethel Hansa gave September 10, 1888 as her birthdate on her application for a U.S. passport, dated January 7, 1915. However, she listed herself as 24 years old on her son's November 1908 birth certificate, and gave September 11, 1884 as her birthdate her application for Social Security in 1953; via Ancestry
  2. ↑ "German Successes for American Singers". Musical America. 22: 34. June 5, 1915.
  3. 1 2 "Phila. Singer to End Long 'Exile' in Reich". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1945-10-22. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-09-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "George L. Parker". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1951-02-12. p. 28. Retrieved 2022-09-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 Shirakawa, Sam H. (1992-07-02). The Devil's Music Master: The Controversial Life and Career of Wilhelm Furtwangler. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 40–41, note 43. ISBN 978-0-19-506508-4.
  6. ↑ "Some Opera Singers on Concert Stage". The Evening Sun. 1912-08-31. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-09-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ The Globetrotter (August 1, 1923). "Americans Abroad". The Spur. 32: 70.
  8. ↑ "American Singers in Germany". Musical Courier. 74: 5. June 7, 1917.
  9. ↑ "Echoes of Music Abroad". Musical America. 22: 11. October 30, 1915.
  10. ↑ "Kreisler with Nikisch in Berlin". Musical America. 17 (20): 31. March 22, 1913 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ↑ "Paisiello's Ancient 'Barber' Revived". Musical America. 18 (1): 23. May 10, 1913 – via Internet Archive.
  12. ↑ "Dippel Contract for Ethel Hansa, Philadelphia Girl". Musical America. 17 (4): 23. November 30, 1912 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ Beethoven - IX. Symphonie, retrieved 2022-09-07
  14. ↑ "New Gramophone Records". The Nation and Athenaeum. 39: 424. July 10, 1926.
  15. ↑ "Americans Unable to Return from Germany". The Victoria Daily Times. 1919-09-26. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-09-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Occupation as listed in the 1950 US Federal census, via Ancestry.
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