The actress and singer Marie Geistinger (Graz 1836-1903 Klagenfurt) as Mary Stuart, oil on canvas, 83 x 100 cm, framed, (KN)

Provenance:
Private Collection Austria.

Marie Geistinger was a star of her time: she was the daughter of an opera singer from Graz and an actress, and made her debut in Munich in 1850 at the age of 17. From 1865 onwards she was engaged at the Theater an der Wien, where she was also involved in artistic direction. She was already revered in Austria as an actress and “queen of operetta,” and then three extensive tours of the United States catapulted her to international fame. She was welcomed by the American public with seemingly never-ending enthusiasm and was offered more and more new concert dates. The tours brought her huge financial success.
Gifted with a bright soprano and great stage presence, she excelled as an operetta singer and actress. Her main roles included not only Rosalinde, which she sang in the world premiere of Johann Strauss’ Fledermaus, but also Mary Stuart in Schiller’s drama of the same name. The present portrait shows her as the very Scottish queen who loses out in the confrontation with her rival Queen Elizabeth I of England, her moral integrity successfully defended by Schiller. (KN)