Verstummte Stimmen

Born in Jaraczewo, Poland, as the daughter of a church cantor, the soprano trained in Berlin and Dresden, making her debut in 1897 at the Leipzig Opera as Ännchen in Der Freischütz. From 1900 to 1903, she was engaged at the Braunschweig Hoftheater, where critics described her as a “charming operatic soubrette whose vocal and acting performances were received with approval.” She subsequently held engagements at the Cologne Opera and the National Theater in Berlin.

In 1904, she was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she made her debut as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro. In the following years, she became a mainstay of the ensemble, appearing in more than 400 performances. Alongside numerous Wagner roles—such as Eva in Die Meistersinger and Gerhilde, Wellgunde, and Ortlinde in The Ring—she became especially well known for her portrayal of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. She performed this role more than 70 times during her nine seasons with the company, including at the 1905 premiere, which had composer Engelbert Humperdinck in attendance. She also gave guest performances in Dresden and Frankfurt and in 1905 appeared at London’s Covent Garden Opera.

In 1908, she returned to Germany and spent the next three years at the Hamburg Stadttheater. In 1908 and 1909, she also appeared in Bayreuth. While engaged in Hamburg, she continued guest appearances at the Metropolitan Opera and on Broadway in New York. Alten married the Austrian banker Hermann Deri in 1912 and lived in Vienna during World War I, performing at both the Vienna State Opera and the Volksoper.

Bella Alten was Jewish. When the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1933, she and her husband were still relatively safe in Vienna. In 1936, even before Germany’s annexation of Austria in March of 1938, the couple left Europe and emigrated to Great Britain. Little is known about her life in exile other than that she worked as a voice teacher in London and became a British citizen in May of 1948. Bella Alten died on December 31, 1962, in London.

When the National Socialists came into power in 1933, it set off an unprecedented wave of expulsions from German opera and theater stages: For countless singers, actors, musicians, and members of the technical and stage staff, this meant the end of their careers. “Silenced Voices” makes the fates of those persecuted for “racial” or political reasons visible and audible.

An interactive map traces their life journeys: from major stages to the places of exclusion, exile, or murder. This creates a powerful connection between the past and the present: The biographies of those persecuted are narrated by ensemble members from some of Germany’s most important theaters, both past and present—the Hamburgische Staatsoper, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Semperoper, the Staatsschauspiel Dresden, and the Staatstheater Stuttgart.

The portal thus serves simultaneously as a tool for scientific research, a digital space for remembrance, and a resource for exploring local history.