music.wikisort.org - Singer

Emilie Mechelin (8 April 1838 — 22 December 1917) was a Finnish operatic soprano and pedagogue, notable among other things for being the first singing teacher of the Helsinki School of Music (later to become Sibelius Academy).[1]

Emilie Mechelin
Mechelin in the title role of Martha in 1872
Background information
Born	(1838-04-08)8 April 1838 Hamina, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	22 December 1917(1917-12-22) (aged 79) Hamina, Finland
Genres	Opera

Early life and education

Johanna Sofia Emilie Mechelin was born to an upper-class family in Hamina, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, as the eldest of five children of Valtioneuvos ('Councillor of State') Gustaf Johan Mechelin and Amanda née Sagulin.[1] One of Emilie's brothers is Leo Mechelin, who later became a notable economist, academic and statesman.[2]

Emilie Mechelin trained in Paris in 1865-67 and 1869-70 under leading pedagogues of the time, including Pauline Viardot.[1] In 1873-74 she was taught in Stockholm by Signe Hebbe. She also studied for a time in Germany.[1]

Career

Although there was no permanent opera house in Finland at the time, Mechelin performed at the Swedish Theatre and the Arkadia Theatre [fi], in at least six productions.[3] She also performed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm,[1] as well as touring extensively in Finland and Scandinavia.[1]

Mechelin taught singing from early on, with her pupils including the likes of Emma Engdahl-Jägerskiöld,[4] Emmy Achté and Ida Basilier-Magelssen.[1]

In 1882, Mechelin was appointed the first teacher of voice at the Helsinki School of Music (Helsingin Musiikkiopisto),[5] which post she held until 1885, when she moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) and later to Stockholm to continue her teaching career.[6]

In the latter part of her career, Mechelin gave up singing almost entirely, dedicating herself instead to giving private tuition.[1] She did still occasionally perform at concerts until the age 60, by which time her voice had changed to mezzo-soprano.[1]

References

Further reading

• Repository of contemporary newspaper coverage of Emilie Mechelin at Finnish National Library (digitised; in Finnish and Swedish)

---