Emilie Mechelin

Emilie Mechelin (8 April 1838 – 22 December 1917) was a Finnish operatic soprano and pedagogue. She was the first singing teacher of the Helsinki School of Music (later to become Sibelius Academy).^[1]

Emilie Mechelin
Mechelin in the title role of Martha in 1872
Background information
Born	(1838-04-08)8 April 1838 Hamina, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	22 December 1917(1917-12-22) (aged 79) Hamina, Finland
Genres	Opera

Early life and education

Johanna Sofia Emilie Mechelin was born to an upper-class family in Hamina in the Grand Duchy of Finland, the eldest of five children of Valtioneuvos ('Councillor of State') Gustaf Johan Mechelin and Amanda née Sagulin.^[1] One of Emilie's brothers is Leo Mechelin, who later became an economist, academic and statesman.^[2]

Mechelin trained in Paris in 1865–67 and 1869–70 under leading pedagogues of the time, including Pauline Viardot.^[1] In 1873–74 she was taught in Stockholm by Signe Hebbe. She also studied for a time in Germany.^[1]

Career

Although there was no permanent opera house in Finland at the time, Mechelin performed at the Swedish Theatre and the Arkadia Theatre [fi] in at least six productions.^[3] She also performed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm,^[1] as well as touring extensively in Finland and Scandinavia.^[1]

Mechelin taught singing from early on, with her pupils including Emma Engdahl-Jägerskiöld,^[4] Emmy Achté and Ida Basilier-Magelssen.^[1]

In 1882, Mechelin was appointed the first teacher of voice at the Helsinki School of Music (Helsingin Musiikkiopisto),^[5] which post she held until 1885, when she moved to Kristiania (now Oslo) and later to Stockholm to continue her teaching career.^[6]

In the latter part of her career, Mechelin gave up singing almost entirely, dedicating herself instead to giving private lessons.^[1] She occasionally performed at concerts until the age of 60, by which time her voice had changed to mezzo-soprano.^[1]