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Josepha Duschek (1754–1824) was an outstanding soprano singer of the Classical era. She was a friend of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wrote a few works for her to sing. Her name is most often given in its German version as above. In Czech her name was Josefína Dušková or (with Germanized spelling) Josepha Duschkova. ==Life== She was born Josepha Hambacher in Prague, then a provincial capital of the Austrian Empire, on 6 March 1754, and lived in Prague all of her life. Her father was a prosperous apothecary, Anton Adalbert Hambacher (also "Hampacher") and her mother was Maria Domenica Colomba, who came from Salzburg. Her father’s pharmacy was in the house called "Zum weissen Einhorn" ("The White Unicorn"). Built in the Baroque style, it was situated in the Old Town Square where the pharmaceutical business flourished until the 20th century. In her youth Josepha studied music with František Xaver Dušek, whom she married on 21 October 1776. Josefa’s husband already had an international reputation as a music teacher. He was a welcome guest in the music salons and he and his wife became well-known hosts at their home, Villa Bertramka. It is not known whether the couple performed together as musicians, but they hosted frequent musical gatherings at which many famous people were present. Josefa had earlier been the lover of the art patron Count Christian Philipp Clam-Gallas, and it was said that she continued to profit long afterwards from the relationship as the Count provided her with an annuity of 900 Gulden and even contributed to the purchase of the Villa Bertramka.〔Duschek's relationship with Count Clam-Gallas is detailed in Freeman, ''Mozart in Prague'', 118-19.〕 Her career as a singer was long and successful; she gave concerts in many different cities, including Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Dresden, Weimar, Leipzig , Warsaw and Berlin. The singer and her husband were also close with the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. While Beethoven was in Prague in 1796, he wrote his concert aria ', Op. 65, for this talented singer. She was not able to sing the piece at its debut because of a conflicting engagement, but she did perform the piece in both Prague and later in Leipzig. The debut was performed by the Countess Josephine Clary, to whom Beethoven later dedicated the piece. This concert aria was also featured on Beethoven's mammoth ''Akademie'' concert at Theater an der Wien in 1808, sung by a 17-year-old Josephine Killitschgy, who was unable to meet the vocal demands of the piece. She never accepted a permanent engagement, but always remained a freelance singer. After her husband’s death in 1799 she retired from public life. She sold Bertramka, and lived in increasingly smaller apartments in Prague. By the time of her death in 1824 she had become impoverished. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Josepha Duschek」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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