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The Amewrican soprano, Hulda Lashanska, was born into a family of Russian Jewish descent. She first studied piano and singing at the Institute of Musical Art in New York with Frieda Ashford. Then, for two years, she studied with the famous soprano Marcella Sembrich, which considered Lashanska as one of her most talented students. After her first New York concert in 1909, she studied for two years in Europe.
In Europe, Hulda Lashanska performed only a few concerts at the beginning of her careers in 1909-1910. Her artistic work was limited entirely to North America. In 1911 gave a concert arranged by her teacher Marcella Sembrich at New York's Aeolian Hall, which was a sensational success and ushered in a major concert career. Then she gave amazing performances with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch. In 1913 she interrupted her career after her marriage, but this was resumed in 1915. In 1918, she had one of her biggest hits, as she appeared in a Sunday Night Concert at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Her soprano voice was repeatedly compared with the unforgettable Alma Gluck. In 1919-1920 she once again briefly interrupt her career, but then ran back from success to success into the concert halls of the USA. She did not appear on the stage. In 1936 she gave several prestigious concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Willem van Hoogstraten and John Barbirolli.
Since 1937, Hulda Lashanska worked as a pedagogue.
Hulda Lashanska’s dark timbre, very expressive voice is documented in recordings on Columbia and Victor (duets with Paul Reimers in 1927, Lieder by Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss). In 1940 appeared on Victor a recording of duets with the contralto Kerstin Thorborg, which present the voice of the the singer in all its beauty. |
