Anna Norrie

Last updated
Anna Norrie in a 1903 production of Skona Helena (La belle Helene) Anna Norrie, rollportratt - SMV - NN054.tif
Anna Norrie in a 1903 production of Sköna Helena ( La belle Hélène )

Anna Hilda Charlotta Norrie née Petterson (1860–1957) was a Swedish actress and operetta singer. After training under Julius Günther at the Sockholm Conservatory, she took singing lessons with Fritz Arlberg. She was engaged by the Nya teatern in 1882 where she performed leading operetta roles. But it was not until 1887 at the Vasa Teatern that she reached her peak, gaining popularity as La belle Hélène or Le petit duc . Until her retirement in 1920, she was acclaimed as the operetta prima donna of the North, singing on tour in Helsinki, Bremen, Leipzig, Hannover and Berlin. During the First World War years, she moved to Copenhagen where she ran the literary cabaret Edderkoppen which closed in 1919. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Born in Stockholm on 7 February 1860, Anna Hilda Charlotta Pettersson was the daughter of the restaurateur Anna Christina Pettersson and the physician Samuel Magnus Axel Könsberg. [1] In 1891, she married the Danish theatre director William Good Norrie (1866–1946) and in 1909, the actor Anton Frithiof de Verdier (1878–1954). [3] When she was 17, she was admitted to the Stockholm Conservatory where she studied voice under Julius Günther. She was later a pupil of the opera singer Fritz Arlberg for voice and of the actor Emil Hillberg for drama. [3]

Career

Anna Norrie (1884) Anna Norrie 1884-crop.jpg
Anna Norrie (1884)

Norrie initially performed as an actress at the Nya Teatern where in 1882 she made her début as Antoinette in Édouard Pailleron's play L'Étincelle (in Swedish Gnistan). When she played the male role of Lars Hjortsberg in Karl Wetterhoff's En repetition på Tillfälle gör tjufven, she sang a ballad so well that she was engaged by the theatre to perform a series of operetta roles. Among these were Offenbach's La fille du tambour-major (Tamburmajorens dotter) and Carl Millöcker's Der Bettelstudent in which she demonstrated her tomboy charms and her comic abilities. In 1883, after further study under the demanding opera singer Signe Hebbe, she was highly acclaimed for her performance in Victorien Sardou's Le Roi Carotte . As a result, she was able to spend the next three years singing in operettas at Södra Teatern and Djurgårdsteatern. [1]

In 1887, Norrie embarked on a long engagement at the Vasa Theatre where she gained a reputation as the leading operetta prima donna of the North. She achieved considerable success in La belle Hélène, La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein , Barbe-bleue , Fatinitza , Le petit duc, Orphée aux enfers and many others. She was equally successful on her tours to Helsinki, Bremen, Leipzig, Hannover and Berlin. Although she formally retired from the stage in 1920, on occasion she appeared in speaking parts. For example in 1932 she played Queen Desideria in Herbert Grevenius's Den förste Bernadotten at the Stockholm Concert Hall. [1]

When she was 73, she turned to teaching, basing her approach on the strict rules of enunciation and movement she had learnt from Hebbe. Among her many students were Signe Hasso, Ingrid Bergman, Gunn Wållgren, Sif Ruud, Gerd Hagman, Viveca Lindfors, Birgitta Valberg, Anita Björk, Margaretha Krook, Yvonne Lombard, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Sven Lindberg, Ulf Palme, Ingvar Kjellson, Jarl Kulle, Jan-Olof Strandberg and Max von Sydow. [1]

Anna Norrie died in Stockholm on 13 July 1957 and was buried in Solna's Norra begravningsplatsen. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Maria Lenngren</span>

Anna Maria Lenngren, née Malmstedt was one of the most famous poets in Swedish history. Her father and brother were also poets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfhild Agrell</span> Swedish writer and playwright

Alfhild Teresia Agrell was a Swedish writer and playwright. She is known for her works about sexual equality in opposition to the contemporary sexual double standard, and as such a participator in the famous Sedlighetsdebatten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Dramatic Training Academy</span>

The Royal Dramatic Training Academy, was the acting school of Sweden's national stage, the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and for many years (1787–1964) seen as the foremost theatre school and drama education for Swedish stage actors. It was established in 1787 by the theatre and art loving King Gustav III and was for many years under the protection of the Swedish royal family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Müller (1755–1826)</span> Swedish opera singer

Caroline Frederikke Müller née Halle also known as Caroline Walther, was a Danish and later naturalized Swedish opera singer (mezzo-soprano). She was also active as an instructor at the Royal Dramatic Training Academy. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and a Hovsångare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Franck</span> Swedish actress and drama teacher

Maria Kristina Franck was a Swedish actress and drama teacher. She was a member of the pioneer generation of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and belonged to the first stars of the theater. She has been referred to as her country's first native dramatic tragedienne. She was the principal of the Royal Dramatic Training Academy from 1819 to 1823. During her last years on stage, she was known under her name as married, Ruckman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Torsslow</span> Swedish actress

Sara Fredrica Torsslow née Strömstedt was a Swedish stage actress. She was one of the most famed actresses in Sweden during the first half of the 19th century, and an elite member of the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elise Hwasser</span> Swedish actress

Ebba Charlotta Elise Hwasser née Jakobsson was a Swedish stage actress. She was an elite actor and has been referred to as the leading lady of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in the mid 19th-century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thérèse Elfforss</span> Swedish actress and theatre director

Antoinette Thérèse Elfforss was a Swedish stage actress and theatre director. She was the managing director of the travelling Elfforss Theater Company between 1869 and 1888.

Marie Jeanette Wässelius was a Swedish opera singer. She is referred to as the leading prima donna of the Royal Swedish Opera in the early 19th-century. She was a Hovsångare (1815) as well as an associé of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (1817). She is also known as Mamsell Wässelia or only Wässelia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franziska Stading</span> Swedish opera singer

Sofia Franziska Stading was a Swedish opera singer of German origin. She is referred to as one of the more notable opera singers in Sweden during the Gustavian era. She was a Hovsångare and member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1788.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Signe Hebbe</span> Swedish operatic soprano and instructor

Signe Amanda Georgina Hebbe was a Swedish operatic soprano and instructor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Östberg</span> Swedish opera singer

Carolina Östberg was a Swedish opera singer and singing teacher. She was nationally and internationally famous and belonged to the elite members of the Royal Swedish Opera

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hedvig Willman</span> Swedish opera singer

Hedvig Charlotta Konstantina Willman née Harling was a Swedish stage actor, opera singer and drama teacher. She was co-principal of Dramatens elevskola in 1877-86.

Caroline Lewenhaupt (1754–1826) was a Swedish courtier, poet and amateur actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Cysch</span> Swedish mezzo-soprano singer and stage actress

Hedvig Carolina Sophie Cysch née Wiberg (1847–1917) was a Swedish mezzo-soprano singer and stage actress, frequently performing the leading roles in operettas, both in Stockholm and Gothenburg. In particular, she is remembered for performing the title role in Sköna Helena, the Swedish version of Offenbach's La belle Hélène.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Meissner</span> Swedish soprano and actress

Emma Meissner, née Ekström was a Swedish soprano and actress.

Thekla Catharina Charlotta Hofer née Falck (1852–1938) was a Swedish operatic soprano and later voice teacher. She made her début at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1879 as Rosina in The Barber of Seville. In addition to performing in various theatres in Sweden, she was a highly applauded guest in Weimar, St Petersburg and Riga. In the mid-1990s, she retired from the stage to teach with pupils including Signe Rappe and Karin Branzell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vendela Andersson-Sörensen</span> Swedish operatic soprano

Vendela Linnea Andersson-Sörensen (1860–1926) was a Swedish operatic soprano. After training under the opera singer Isidor Dannström, in 1880 she made her début at Stockholm's Nya teatern as Adele in Daniel Auber's Svarte dominon. She performed leading soprano roles at the Royal Swedish Opera where she was engaged from 1882 to 1887. After her marriage in early 1888, she gave concerts and appeared in opera as a guest performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margit Rosengren</span> Swedish opera singer

Margit Ingeborg Rosengren (1901–1952) was a leading Swedish operetta singer in the first half of the 20th century. After studying voice and drama, she was invited by the theatre magnate Albert Ranft to perform at Stockholm's Oscarsteatern. She made her début there in 1920 as the page Pueblo in the operetta Don César de Bazan. She subsequently performed in the Vasa and Odeon theatres and as a guest at the Royal Swedish Opera until her retirement in 1941. She also took part in revues and had a few film roles.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lewenhaupt, Inga (8 March 2018). "Anna Hilda Charlotta Norrie". Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  2. Fallström, Daniel (29 April 1892). "Anna Pettersson-Norrie" (PDF) (in Swedish). Idun. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Lewenhaupt, Inga. "Anna H C Norrie" (in Swedish). Svenskt biografiskt lexikon. Retrieved 20 May 2021.