Unger, Caroline |
| OPERA SINGER (ITALY) |
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BORN 28 Oct 1803, Wien - DIED 23 Mar 1877, Firenze, Toscana BIRTH NAME Unger, Carolina Maria GRAVE LOCATION Firenze, Toscana: Cimitero Monumentale delle Porte Sante |
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Caroline Unger was the daughter of Johann Karl Unger, a professor at the Theresian Academy. Her mother was baroness Anna von Karwinska. The family lived at the Herrengasse 36 in Vienna. She studied in Vienna under Joseph Mozzatti, Aloisia Lange and Johann Michael Vogl. Mozart's son Franz Xaver wolfgang was her piano teacher. In Milan she studied under Domenico Roncini. In 1821 she debuted at the Kärtnertortheater as Dorabella in Mozart's "Così fan tutte". She sang the alt part during the premiere of Beethoven's Ninth Symphonie at the same theatre. According to a witness she turned the totally deaf Beethoven to the audience at the end of the performance to receive the applause. She was successful in Italy as a concert singer. When Alexandre Dumas visited Italy with his future wife Ida Ferrier in 1835 she had an affair with the author. In 1836 she created the part of Antonina in Donizetti's "Belisario" and in 1838 the title part in Donizetti's "Maria de Rudenz". In 1837 she settled in Florence at the Bonaparte House, Via dei Renai 23-25. In 1839 she started an affair with the poet Nikolaus Lenau, but it ended soon because Lenau didn't want to depend on her financially. She met François Sabatier in 1840 in Rome. They married in 1841 and she left the stage after the marriage. With Sabatier she lived in Florence, where Otto Hartwig and Fanny Lewald were visitors. She worked as a singing teacher and among her pupils were Wilhelmine Clauss-Szarvady and Anna Schimon-Regan. Family • Husband: Sabatier, François (1841-1877, Firenze, Toscana: Santa Lucia dè Magnoli) Related persons • has a connection with Beethoven, Ludwig van • was teacher of Clauss-Szarvady, Wilhelmine • had a love affair with Dumas, Alexandre (père) • was pupil of Lange-Weber, Aloisia • was visited by Lewald, Fanny • knew Liszt, Franz Events |
| 7/5/1824 | Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. At the Kärtnertortheater in Vienna. It was longer than any previous symphonie and required a larger orchestra. It also had vocal soloists in the final part. Allthough he was almost deaf, Beethoven was on the stage and gave directions to the orchestra although it was officially directed by Michael Umlauf. Soloist Caroline Unger tapped his arm to make him turn around and face the reaction of the audience. She had tears in her eyes because she realised how deaf he was. Henriette Sontag also sang. [Beethoven, Ludwig van] |
| 14/2/1829 | Premiere of Bellini's "La straniera" at La Scala in Milan. The libretto was written by Felice Romani. It was based on the novel "L'Étrangère" by Charles-Victor Prévot, vicomte d'Arlincourt. Performers included Henriette Méric-Lalande, Domenico Reina, Antonio Tamburini and Caroline Unger. [Bellini, Vincenzo][Romani, Felice] |
| 30/1/1838 | Premiere of Donizetti's opera "Maria de Rudenz" at La Fenice, Venice. The Italian libretto was written by Salvadore Cammarano. the opera was met with little succes and it was withdrawn aftr two performances. In 1841 it was performed 14 times in rome but it was still not succesful. |
| 5/9/1841 | Caroline Unger leaves the stage in Dresden. She played the part of Antonia in Donizetti's "Belisario". Meyerbeer was in the audience and words were spoken by Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient and Karoline Bauer. [Meyerbeer, Giacomo][Schröder-Devrient, Wilhelmine] |
| Images | |
 The grave of Caroline Unger at the Cimitero Monumentale delle Porte Sante, Florence. Picture by Androom (19 Feb 2018) |
 The grave of Caroline Unger and François Sabatier at the Cimitero Monumentale delle Porte Sante, Florence. Picture by Androom (19 Feb 2018) |
