Hermine Küchenmeister-Rudersdorf

Madame Rudersdorff, ca. 1859–1870]; from the Carte de Visite Collection of the Boston Public Library

Hermine Küchenmeister-Rudersdorff (December 12, 1822February 26, 1882) was a Ukrainian composer, teacher and writer. She toured throughout Europe, then settled in America and died in Boston.

Rudersdorff’s father was the violinist Johannes Andreas Rudersdorff. She studied singing in Paris with Marco Bordogni and in Milan with de Micherout (also seen as de Micheroux). She was married twice: to Dr. Kuchenmeister, a professor of mathematics, and to Maurice Mansfield, a London wine merchant. She had four children: Greta, Felix, Henry and Richard. Richard Mansfield became a well-known actor.

Rudersdorff debuted in Leipzig, Germany, when she was the soprano soloist in Felix Mendelssohn’s cantata Lobgesang on June 25, 1840. Her English debut was on May 23, 1854, at Covent Garden's Theatre Royal on Drury Lane, where she sang in several operas. She appeared at the Royal Italian Opera in 1855. They included:

Cantata Fridolin (music by Alberto Randegger; libretto by Rudersdorf]

Essay Einige Worte uber das Erlerner des Gesanges (A Few Words about Learning to Sing)

Songs "Homage to Columbia" "Maying" (text by Violet Fane) "Rainy Day" (text by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) "Shadow" (text by Adelaide A. Procter)