Olefine Moe

Olefine Louise Margarethe Moe (18 March 1850 – 8 November 1933) was a Norwegian opera singer, actress, opera director and singing teacher who created Norway's first permanent music theatre.

Early life Olefine Louise Margarethe Moe was born on 18 March 1850 in Bergen to oboist and dance teacher Iver Christian Moe and Inger Marie Amundsen. Her godfather was violinist Ole Bull, whom she was named after. Moe displayed a talent for music from an early age, often singing along to her own piano arrangements. During her childhood, her family moved to Christiania.

Career

At the age of 17, Moe made her debut as an actress as Emeline in Eugène Scribe's The First Love at the Christiania Theatre. Moe's first singing role was in Sveitserhytten. Moe's talent in singing roles was quickly noticed and she was given more of these roles. She fascinated audiences with a captivating personality and a "silver-toned" voice on stage despite never receiving any vocal training and being completely self-taught. However, she did later receive training from Henrik Mayer.

In 1870, Swedish singer Louise Michaëli visited Christiania, she noticed Moe's talent and the following year, following Michaëli's advice, Moe travelled to Stockholm and became a student of Fredrika Stenhammar. A year later, in May 1872, she debuted at Royal Swedish Opera with the titular role in the opera Martha by Flotow. Subsequently, she was immediately contracted by the opera on a permanent basis, where she found success in a number of demanding leading roles. However, she left there in 1881, after a disagreement with the conductor.

Later life and death For the final years of her career, Moe was not attached to any theatre on a permanent basis but continued to give guest performances in Christiania and Stockholm, where she also worked as a singing teacher.