Cebotari, Maria

OPERA VOCALIST, ACTOR (RUSSIA)
BORN 10 Feb 1910, Chisineu, Moldova - DIED 9 Jun 1949, Wien
BIRTH NAME Cebotaru, Maria
CAUSE OF DEATH liver cancer
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Döblinger Friedhof, Hartäckerstraße 65 (Gruppe 28, Reihe 1, Nummer 6)

As a child, Maria Cebotari sang in churches. She was discovered by the manager of a group of travelling actors, Count Alexander Virubov, who married her. They moved to Paris and then Berlin, where she took singing lessons. After Fritz Busch heard her in Dresden in 1931 he gave her a contract for three years (she stayed in Dresden until 1941) and Bruno Walter selected her for the Festspiele in Salzburg.

She performed in classical as well as modern opera's and Richard Strauss, who admired her, gave her the part of Aminta in his "Die schweigsame Frau". In 1934 she became a chamber singer and from 1935 onwards she performed regularly at the Berlin State Opera. During the time of the nazis she appeared in eight films. In 1938 she divorced Virubov and married actor Gustav Diessl.

Her house in Berlin was destroyed in 1943. In 1945 she was engaged at the State Opera in Vienna. But then misfortune struck. Diessl, whom she loved dearly, died after two strokes in 1948 and not long afterwards it became clear she had liver cancer. Her last performance was as Laura in "Der Bettelstudent" at the Vienna state Opera. After she died in 1949 her two young sons were adopted by pianist Clifford Curzon and his wife Lucille Wallace, a harpsichordist.

Movies: "Mädchen in Weiss" (1936); "Maria Malibran" (1942).

Family
• Husband: Diessl, Gustav (1938-1948)

Events
13/4/1940Premiere of the opera "Romeo und Julia" by Heinrich Sutermeister in Dresden. It took place at the State Opera in Dresden. The opera was dedicated to Karl Böhm who was the conductor. It was directed by Mas Hofmüller and Maria Cebotari sang the part of Julia. [Böhm, Karl]

Images

The grave of Gustav Diessl and Maria Cebotari at the Döblinger Friedhof, Vienna.
Picture by Androom (29 Aug 2002)

 

Maria Cebotari.
(1941-1944)

 

Maria Cebotari.
(1939-1940)

 

Maria Cebotari: "Butterfly".
 

Maria Cebotari: "Bohème".
 

Sources
• Bauer, Werner T., Wiener Friedhofsführer, Genaue Beschreibung sämtlicher Begräbnisstätten nebst einer Geschichte des Wiener Bestattungswesens, Falter Verlag, Wien, 1991
Internet Movie Database
Cebotari, Maria


Cendrars, Blaise

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 02 May 2022