Maria Pospischil

Pospischil started as a young romantic female lead but from the very beginning, she strove for a position of tragic heroine, occupied by Otilie Sklenářová-Malá and Marie Bittnerová at that time.

Since scandals of this kind rarely appeared in the media of that day, Prague theatre circles were amused by the information, true or fake, about Pospischil slapping Šubert.

She toured Warsaw, Poznań, Lublin and Kraków and presented Gretchen in Goethe's Faust and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro from her older repertoire, but the status of a freelance artist gave her the opportunity to choose her own Rollenfach and roles.

In addition, the acquisition of more than a dozen expensive period costumes, including several months without work, required a large financial and time investment that she (and Pulda) could afford.

Not only a great artist was welcomed, but also a "representative of her fellow nation", as Ludwik Kozłowski stated in his review: "It was a true manifestation of cordiality: – Miss Pospiszilówna, when she first appeared on the stage, was greeted by a veritable hurricane of applause and thousands of shouts: "Na zdar!

But some critics also mentioned "spots in the sun" in her acting style, that were to be overcome later in Vienna, "excessive facial expressions that tire the audience's attention, overuse of dramatic tones in places requiring calmer diction, and movements - sometimes too violent - for a set of a parlour (of a French comedy Divorçons).

Her first German success must undoubtedly be credited to her tutor Pulda, as the certainly undeniably talented actress did not have enough experience to portray new leading roles in a foreign language she did not fully master.

Artistic leader of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin Adolphe L'Arronge invited her for guest performances of Princess Eboli in Don Carlos and the title role of Donna Diana by Agustín Moreto y Cavana.

The way she, gracefully cast on the colorful leopard skin, sweetly lured the dreamy youth to her, the way she rested wreathed with roses on the snowy cushions of the Venus temple…"[20] In 1889, she was invited to Vienna by the director of Burgtheater August Förster in an effort to find a replacement for the aging Charlotte Wolter, one of the greatest German tragic heroines, a generation older actress of the same repertoire and a darling of the Viennese audience.

Her complaint was justified, because in the first two months of 1892 she only performed at the Burgtheater only three times as Queen Kunigunde in Grillparzer’s König Ottokars Glück und Ende, Sigrid in Ibsen’s The Pretenders and finally Princess Eboli in Schiller’s Don Carlos (she was touring in German-Bohemian spa Teplice).

At the same time, he started Sunday afternoon discounted shows for workers, and there was a rumor that, in addition to his social sensibilities, he needed to find dates for a young tragedian.

“The management of the Imperial and Royal Hofburg Theater, as well as the great actress Charlotte Wolter, who, however, thinks and acts very pettily in "certain" things, is doing everything in their power to spoil the position of this talented and important artist at the Burgtheater.

Only the purifying fire of a miracle is strong enough to eradicate these pro-German feelings deeply rooted under one's skin, but others are of the opinion that Miss Pospischil would be such an effective figure as a national Magdalene that even the most fanatical German-haters would have to forgive her.

[41] The actress made a public apology for her earlier improper behavior, explained her attitudes in an interview [48] with journalist and war correspondent Servác Heller and donated the salary for the first four Czech performances to charity, but this did not calm the nationalistic passions.

[53] She, however, did have many supporters, as the literary critic and journalist František Xaver Šalda[54] and novelist and dramatist Vilém Mrštík who dedicated her his first tragic drama Miss Urban to Pospischil.

[7]: 35 While in public opinion, the star was triumphing over the rioters, Pospischil announced backstage to the board members that she would complete her Bohemian tour and return to Germany.

When violent riots became risky, the claque began to use positive boytot, such as calling to fame the national icon Otilie Sklenářová-Malá, who played the virtuous Aria alongside Pospischil as lustful Messalina.

Pospischil reprised the title role of Franz Grillparzer's Sappho and later guest starred in local theatres (Magda in Teplice, Duchess of Marlborough in Litoměřice etc.)

“She ran the theater with honest artistic endeavors and one should have been satisfied with her; the undue and unjust demands of her members led to a conflict in which she finally fell victim to the "organization."”.

[76] Among the most significant cultural acts is her commitment to the installation of a commemorative plaque to Richard Wagner in the ruins of nearby Střekov Castle, which had inspired the composer when writing his opera Tannhäuser.

She is known for her article Die Schamhaftigkeit auf der Bühne, in which she fiercely criticized the emerging expressionist movement: "The story of John the Baptist, as told in the Gospels, seems to have sufficient dramatic power and beauty to do without any additions or alterations.

Are the demands of these poets too great and the subject too complicated to be dramatized with honor, or are they speculating on the desire of the general public for spicy and strong drinks, for aphrodisiacs to whip up the weary nerves of our age?

For her touring career, she had a list of glamour roles (so called Glanz- und Paraderollen) of French (Fédora and Frou-Frou or La Dame aux Camélias) or German (Magda, Maria Stuart or Orsina) provenance.

She fulfils Grillparzer's commandment to forget technique when doing art, frees the precious property entrusted to her from the dusty layer of routine and plays Maria Stuart as if it had been written for her and for her only.

Especially roles of fallen women, "détraqués" (mentally unstable women), courtesans and wicked aristocrats brought her fame, as states a review of her rendition of Wilbrandt's Messalina: "In her portrayal, all sides of the character of the great courtesan were represented: the seductive grace of the hetaera, the demonic sensuality, the capricious mind, the insatiable thirst for revenge, the cunning of the upstart, but at the same time all the still shining through features of an originally great nature.

She brings physical means and a natural passion that many colleagues may envy; she is also modern enough to seek simplicity in her delivery, but as a heroine she believes she is obliged to offer a masterpiece of declamation at the right time.

The author puts four great arias into the mouth of his heroine; Miss Pospischil made the impossible possible and spoke the gruesome curse with serious, strong effect.

"[92] Another review of the same show revealed the impact of her naturalistic acting: "A terminally ill woman and wife who dies after a painful death struggle before the eyes of the audience.

Some critics, however, judged that, and on the contrary praised her performance as mother Dorothee in Mutterrecht by Adelheit Weber: "The actress, previously known only as a declaiming and posing iambic heroine, showed herself for the first time from a new, very remarkable side.

Pospischil is an experienced mountain climber, but, it seems, only where the poet shows her the way, no matter how steep and impassable it is.”[95] As most of actresses of her rank (with the exception of Duse), she avoided contemporary progressive dramatic work (e.g. Ibsen's Nora or Hedda Gabler, or stage versions of Emile Zola's naturalistic novels).