Bella Paalen

[5] She was engaged for 31 years at the k.-k. Hofoper in Vienna, later the State Opera, was appointed Kammersängerin there in 1933 and had to leave the country after the Anschluss because of her Jewish origins.

She took part in two Viennese premieres, in 1907 as Kate Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly and in 1911 as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Richard Strauss.

She was part of the cast of the Vienna Un ballo in maschera in 1924, still considered legendary today, with Richard Tauber as Gustaf III, Mattia Battistini as René Ankarström and the ladies Vera Schwarz (Amelia), Bella Paalen (Ulrica) and Selma Kurz (Oscar).

Paalen made guest appearances – parallel to her engagement at the Vienna Opera – in Holland, Spain, England and Czechoslovakia.

In 1925, she made a successful guest appearance at the Royal Opera House in London in four Wagner roles (as Ortrud, Magdalene, Mary and Fricka) as well as Annina in Der Rosenkavalier.

As it was no longer safe for Paalen to stay in Vienna due to her Jewish origins, she emigrated to the United States in 1939 with the help of Lotte Lehmann.

Bizet: d'Albert: Delibes: Giordano: Humperdinck: Kienzl: Lortzing: Mascagni: Meyerbeer: Millöcker: Mozart: Puccini Smetana: Johann Strauß: Richard Strauss: Tschaikowski: Verdi: Wagner: Wolf Wolf-Ferrari: