STERN, KAROLINE:

By: Isidore Singer, Regina Neisser

German prima donna; born at Mayence April 10, 1800; date of death unknown. She studied first under her father, a violinist of repute, and then under Heidelhof. She made her début (1816) at the Nationaltheater at Treves in Spontini's "Das Unterbrochene Opferfest," and thence went to Düsseldorf, where she became acquainted with the Heine family; she is mentionedin laudatory terms in young Heinrich Heine's verse. After a short engagement at Aix-la-Chapelle, she became in 1819 prima donna at the Hoftheater at Stuttgart, which she left for Mayence in 1825. Soon afterward, however, she was called to Munich, and subsequently filled engagements at Augsburg and Würzburg. She retired from the stage in 1841. Her rich voice, her histrionic ability, and her impressive personality enabled her to sing the most important of rôles. Her greatest triumphs were scored in the operas of Mozart, Weber, Spontini, Rossini, and Meyerbeer. After leaving the stage she was equally successful as a concert-singer as late as 1855.

S. R. N.