Marie Hanfstängl

Who was Marie Hanfstängl?

Marie Hanfstängl, born Marie Schroeder, was a notable German operatic soprano singer and singing teacher, whose career was mostly conducted in Germany.

Marie Schröder was a pupil of Pauline Viardot's in Baden-Baden. She appeared at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris in 1866, but returned to Germany on the outbreak of war in 1870. In 1871 she was engaged by the Court Opera House at Stuttgart.

After marrying Erwin Hanfstaengl, a member of the distinguished Stuttgart photographer and art-publishing family headed by Franz Hanfstaengl, Marie resumed her musical studies in 1878, going to Vannucini in Florence, and thereafter was employed by the Stadt-Theater at Frankfurt. She sang at the Metropolitan Opera as Marie Schröder-Hanfstängl during the 1884–85 and 1888–89 seasons. In 1895 she became a teacher of singing at the Hoch Conservatory in the same city, where one of her students was Margarete Dessoff. She retired in 1897, and spent her final years in Munich.

The beautiful, exquisitely trained voice, and the polished virtuosity of her delivery made her an outstanding coloratura singer. Among her best roles were: Rosina, Gretchen, Amina, Philine, Lucia, Martha etc.