Paula Doenges (1874-1931).

  • Profession: Soprano
  • Relation to Mahler: Worked with Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) in the Vienna State Opera
  • Correspondence with Mahler: Yes.
  • Born: 17-03-1874 Leipzig, Germany
  • Died: 15-06-1931 Langebrück near Dresden, Germany
  • Buried: 00-00-0000 
  1. 1898 Opera Vienna 06-05-1898.

Also: Paula Donges.

03-1898 Five performances in Vienna.

Doenges, the daughter of a school principal, was “discovered” by him at the age of five, when he heard her sing. He also did not mind that she decided as a schoolgirl to become a singer. After taking professional lessons with Friedrich Rebling and August Prost, director of the Stadttheater, she immediately succeeded in making her debut in Leipzig, where she took up her duties as “Agathe” in 1891. There she remained until 1908, although she u. a. Bernhard Pollini wanted to commit to the Hamburg City Theater.

In Leipzig she created the “Thirza” on 11 November 1906 in the premiere of the opera Strandrecht (The Wreckers) by Ethel Smyth.

In 1906 she performed at the Opera in Frankfurt am Main and was engaged there from 1908 as a dramatic soprano. Until 1913 she stayed there and then worked as a guest.

Her strength lay above all in the dramatic roles of Wagner. So she sang u. a. the “Brünnhilde” in the Ring of the Nibelung, the “Isolde” in Tristan, but also the “Leonore” in Fidelio, the “Countess” in Figaro’s wedding, the “Rezia” in Oberon von Weber, the “Santuzza” in Cavalleria rusticana and the “Catherine” in The Taming of the Shrew. She also bore the title of a princely Reußian Kammersängerin.

Her voice is preserved on a single Odeon record (Berlin, 1910).

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