Lovisa Augusti

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Lovisa Sofia Augusti
Born Ester Salomon
1756
Germany
Died 1790 (aged 33)
Sweden
Other name(s) Lovisa Sofia Salomoni
Spouse(s) F. B. Augusti

Lovisa Sofia Augusti, (born Ester Salomon; Germany 1756- 25 June in Stockholm, 1790), was a Swedish opera singer and actor.

[edit] Biography

The daughter of Israel Salomon, a traveling Jewish musician from Germany, Lovisa had already made a name for herself in her childhood as a singer in Gothenburg. She converted to Christianity there in 1767, when she received the name Lovisa Sofia Salmoni at her baptismal. The conversion was made together with her brother, who was a violinist, to avoid the regulations of non-Christian entertainers.

A the age of seventeen, as the protegée of the wife of the General von Kaulbar, she sang for King Gustav III of Sweden in Kristianstad, who was so impressed by her performance that he granted her a position at the Royal Swedish Opera at Bollhuset in Stockholm and made her a court-singer. She was married at the time, and her husband, F.B. Augusti, who was also a musician (a violinist), was given a position in the royal chapel; her brother, also a violinist, were given the same position, which he kept until 1812. In her personal appearance, she was described as short and pretty, and often called "Lilla fru Augusti" ("Little Mrs Augusti").

The details of her musical education are entirely unknown; however, she most likely did not receive formal education. She was thought by many to be naturally talented, and she was considered to be one of the best singers in Sweden at that time. At her debut in the Opera in Stockholm, one viewer mused that "at the sight of her, one thought one saw Venus, but when she started singing, one found she was Apollo."

Her most well-known roles were her portrayal of Apollo (and later the part of Eurydice) in Orpheus and Eurydice in 1775, the part of Love in Adonis (the season 1775-1776), Astrild in Silvie (1773-1774), the Joy in Amphion, Anna Bielke in Gustaf Vasa (1785) and Märta Banér in Gustaf Adolf and Ebba Brahe (1787-1788). Other parts were Amphitrite in Neptun and Amphitirite with Johan Filip Lising (1774-1775), Aeglé in Aeglé with Carl Stenborg (1774-1775), Zelis in Aline, drottning av Golconda (1775-1776), Lucile in Lucile with Carl Stenborg (1775-1776), Lovisa in Desertören (1776-1777), and Jealousy in Procris and Cephal (1777-1778).

She was the cover for the great prima donna Elisabeth Olin whenever she was sick or had to take maternity leave, but when Olin retired in 1784, she was replaced as the leading prima donna by Caroline Halle-Müller, not with Augusti. Augusti remained in the Opera, and in 1788 she was elected in to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She died two years later, before she had reached the age of thirty-four.

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