{{short description|American soprano}} {{Infobox person | name = Elsa Alsen | image = ElsaAlsen1928.png | alt = A white woman with dark hair in a bouffant style, wearing a white dress with a high collar | caption = Elsa Alsen, from a 1928 publication | birth_name = | birth_date = 7 April 1880 | birth_place = Obra, Kingdom of Prussia,<br>German Empire | death_date = 31 January 1975 (age 94) | death_place = New York, U.S. | other_names = Elsa Henneberger | occupation = Opera singer, concert singer, voice teacher | years_active = | known_for = | notable_works = | spouse(s) = | relatives = }}
'''Elsa Alsen''' (7 April 1880 – 31 January 1975) was an American dramatic soprano and concert singer, born in Prussia, best known for her Wagnerian roles.
==Early life== Alsen was born in Obra, Prussia, the daughter of a French mother and Norwegian father.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1937-10-30 |title=Great Wagnerian Soprano Here Monday, November 8 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-virginian-great-wagnerian-sopra/146474262/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=The News-Virginian|page=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Career== Alsen made her operatic debut in 1902, in Heidelberg.<ref name=":0" /> She sang as a contralto early in her career,<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=1934-02-17 |title=Guest Artist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-news-guest-artist/146472489/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=Indianapolis News|page=3|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> then as a dramatic soprano, often in Wagnerian roles, especially Brünnhilde and Isolde.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=March 22, 1928 |title=Alsen Triumphs Again as Isolde |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkHMiPi_ljQC&dq=Elsa+Alsen&pg=RA11-PA27 |journal=The Musical Leader|volume=54 |issue=12 |page=27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=1928-12-16 |title=Concert Artist Coming to City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/arizona-daily-star-concert-artist-coming/146471333/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=Arizona Daily Star|page=17|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She appeared with various German opera companies for twenty years before her American debut in 1923, while touring with the Wagnerian Opera Company.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 13, 1923 |title=Wagnerian Singers Arrive; Opera Company to Open Its Tour in Washington Monday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/10/13/archives/wagnerian-singers-arrive-opera-company-to-open-its-tour-in.html|access-date=2024-05-03|newspaper=The New York Times|page=13}}</ref> She sang with the Chicago Civic Opera Company from 1925 to 1928.<ref name=":0" />
Alsen gave a concert at New York's Aeolian Hall with Georg Liebling in 1925.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=December 1, 1925 |title=George Liebling Assists Elsa Alsen in his Songs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gd9Cf25RdJcC&dq=Elsa+Alsen&pg=RA6-PA7 |journal=Musical Digest |volume=9 |page=7}}</ref> She was "acclaimed with deafening applause" at a 1928 appearance in Detroit,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 26, 1928 |title=Elsa Alsen Acclaimed in Detroit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkHMiPi_ljQC&dq=Elsa+Alsen&pg=RA3-PA2 |journal=The Musical Leader|volume=54 |issue=2 |page=2}}</ref> sang with the Washington National Opera in February 1928,<ref>{{Cite journal |date=April 19, 1928 |title=Alsen With Washington Opera Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkHMiPi_ljQC&dq=Elsa+Alsen&pg=RA15-PA53 |journal=The Musical Leader|volume=54 |issue=16 |page=53}}</ref> and sang arias at the Milwaukee Sängerfest later that year.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 21, 1928 |title=Saengerfest Draws Many Visitors to Milwaukee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NkHMiPi_ljQC&dq=Elsa+Alsen&pg=RA24-PA23 |journal=The Musical Leader|volume=54 |issue=25 |page=23}}</ref> In 1929 she sang at a large Memorial Day event in Los Angeles.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1929-05-29 |title=Elsa Alsen to Sing at Home; Sawtelle Veterans Preparing Memorial Exercises |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-elsa-alsen-to-sing/146472273/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|page=10|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was a "favorite" at the Hollywood Bowl by 1930,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=1930-07-17 |title=Elsa Alsen, Favorite of Bowl Audiences, Returns Tomorrow for a Concert |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/redlands-daily-facts-elsa-alsen-favorit/146471567/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=Redlands Daily Facts|page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and in the 1930s she sang at four concerts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Performance History Search: Elsa Alsen |url=https://archives.bso.org/Search.aspx?searchType=Performance&Soloist=Elsa%20Alsen |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Boston Symphony Orchestra Archives}}</ref> and was a concert soloist with Paul Althouse at several events, including a Sängerfest in St. Paul in 1932,<ref>{{Cite news |date=1932-06-19 |title=Northwest Saengerfest Includes Five Concerts; Paul Althouse, Elsa Alsen to Appear as Soloists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-tribune-nortwest-saengerfest-includ/146473120/ |access-date=2024-05-02 |newspaper=Star Tribune|page=30 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 1934.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1934-03-18 |title=Baltimore Symphony at the Lyric; Paul Althouse and Elsa Alsen to Sing with Orchestra |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-baltimore-symphony-at/146473306/ |access-date=2024-05-02|newspaper=The Baltimore Sun|page=36|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>
Alsen made several recordings in the 1920s, all on the Columbia label.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elsa Alsen |url=https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/mastertalent/detail/100368/Alsen_Elsa |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=Discography of American Historical Recordings}}</ref> She appeared in an early sound-era film, ''The Rogue Song'' (1930). She was featured on radio programs in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1927-12-03 |title=Noted Artists Will Be Heard; Columbia Chain to Feature Mme. Elsa Alsen, Sascha Jacobsen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-windsor-star-noted-artists-will-be-h/146472647/ |access-date=2024-05-02|newspaper=Windsor Star|page=27 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> She was appointed director of the Cecilia Music School of the Madonna House Settlement in 1937.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 1, 1937 |title=Elsa Alsen Named Director of Music School; Dramatic Soprano Is Appointed to the Cecilia Institution of Madonna House |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/08/01/archives/elsa-alsen-named-director-of-school-dramatic-soprano-is-appointed.html|access-date=2024-05-03|newspaper=The New York Times|page=39}}</ref> She taught voice students in New York City, into her eighties.<ref name=":0" />
==Personal life== Alsen married Richard Henneberger in 1913. She became a naturalized United States citizen in the 1930s. She died in 1975, at the age of 94, at a nursing home in New York City.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |title=Elsa Alsen Dead; Opera Singer, 94; Soprano Taught Voice Here After Leaving Stage |date=February 2, 1975 |page=49 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/02/02/archives/elsa-alsen-dead-opera-singer-94-soprano-taught-voice-here-after.html|access-date=2024-05-03|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDB name|0022511}} * "Caro mio ben" and [https://archive.org/details/78_rinaldo-lascia-chio-pianga-sadly-i-languish_elsa-alsen-handel_gbia0518787b "Lascia ch'io pianga"], 1926 recordings of Alsen singing, via Internet Archive * [https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1c88344 "Musicians at the Hollywood Bowl campaign committees breakfast, Los Angeles, 1930"], photo including Elsa Alsen, from the UCLA Library Special Collections
{{Portal bar|Biography|Opera}} {{Authority control|state=collapsed}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alsen, Elsa}} Category:1880 births Category:1975 deaths Category:American operatic contraltos Category:American operatic sopranos Category:20th-century German singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:German emigrants to the United States