Ragna Linne

Ragna Linne
Born(1862-10-09)October 9, 1862
Oslo, Norway
DiedDecember 25, 1934(1934-12-25) (aged 72)
California, U.S.
Other namesRagna Linné Strobel
OccupationsSoprano, concert singer

Ragna Sofie Linne (October 9, 1862[1][2] – December 25, 1934[2]) was a Norwegian soprano and voice teacher. She was a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and taught at the American Conservatory of Music. She was also one of the first Scandinavians to become a member of the Bahá'í faith.

Early life and education

Linne was born in Oslo, the daughter of Karen Linne. She was often described as a descendant of Carl Linnaeus.[3][4] She studied voice with Mathilde Marchesi in Paris.[5]

Career

Linne began her performing career in Norway in 1882, and began teaching students in Oslo in 1884.[6] She traveled to the United States where she made her first appearance in America at Turn Hall in Boston on March 28, 1886.[7] The following June she performed as the soprano soloist in a concert of a truncated version of Gioachino Rossini's Stabat Mater with the Boston Oratorio Society.[8] She made her Broadway debut on August 16, 1886 at the Bijou Opera House as Legrand Foudre in Owen Westford, Susie Russell, and George Scheiffarth's musical Soldiers and Sweethearts.[9] At the time of her New York debut in 1886 The New York Times reported that she had previously appeared on the opera stage at La Scala in Milan.[10]

She moved to Chicago by 1891, and sang Norwegian folk songs at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.[6] She was president of the Chicago Artists' Associations.[11] She gave recitals,[12][13] and toured as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.[14]

Linne taught at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.[15][16] One of her students there was singer Amy Ellerman.[17] Linne and her students sang for the patients at the South Dakota State Insane Hospital in Yankton in 1913.[18] She was an honorary member of Mu Phi Epsilon.[5]

Linne was one of the first Scandinavians to become a member of the Bahá'í faith.[19] She sang at Chicago Bahá'í conventions 1912 and 1914.[20][21] She made a sound recording of the Bahá'í Benediction in 1923. Later in life, Linne performed and taught in the Los Angeles area.[22][23] Metropolitan Opera soprano Harriet Henders was one of her pupils in Los Angeles.[24]

Personal life

Linne married lithographer Theodore Strobel. They had a daughter, Norma, who died in Chicago in 1902.[25] Theodore Strobel died in 1905.[26] She moved to southern California in the 1920s,[27] and died there in 1934, at the age of 72.

References

  1. ^ Ragna Linné Strobel in the U.S., Passport Applications, 1795-1925, passport identification number 21582, passport issue date 29 April 1920; accessed via ancestry.com
  2. ^ a b Ragna Linné Strobel in the Norway, Death Registers, 1928-1960, section Oslo 1934; accessed via ancestry.com
  3. ^ "Chat with Mme. Linne; Noted Chicago Soprano Visits Winnepeg for First Time--Her Impressions". The Winnipeg Tribune. 1906-04-11. p. 1. Retrieved 2025-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Mme. Linne Loves Hills of Montana; Famous Singer Has Spent Summer on Ranch". The Anaconda Standard. 1911-09-01. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Chapter Honorary Member: Mme. Ragna Linne" Mu Phi Epsilon Triangle 14(3)(May 1920): 297-298.
  6. ^ a b Bassett, Helen Wheeler; Starr, Frederick (1898). The International Folk-lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893 ... Charles H. Sergel Company. p. 428.
  7. ^ "Mme. Ragna Linne's Debut". The Boston Globe. March 29, 1886. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Bijou Theatre". The Boston Globe. Jun 6, 1886. p. 11.
  9. ^ Brown, Thomas Allston (1903). A History of the New York Stage from the First Performance in 1732 to 1901, Volume 3. Dodd, Mead & Co. p. 285.
  10. ^ "Amusements". The New York Times. August 15, 1886. p. 7.
  11. ^ Sanford, Margaret St. Vrain (October 1917). "Chicago Musical Happenings". The Musical Monitor. 7 (2): 64.
  12. ^ "Song Recital by Mme. Regna Linne". Music: A Monthly Magazine. 16 (1): 107–108. May 1899.
  13. ^ "Mme. Linne in a Recital; Famous Artiste is Presented by Livingston Music Club". The Livingston Post. 1913-09-11. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-08-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "The Chicago Symphony Orchestra". Stockton Daily Record. February 24, 1902. p. 5 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  15. ^ "Distinguished Chicago Visitor". Pacific Coast Musician. 10 (8): 7. August 1921.
  16. ^ "American Conservatory Faculty Concert". Music: A Monthly Magazine: 317–318. January 1901.
  17. ^ "Will Take Part in Oratorio Dec. 18. Amy Ellerman of New York City to Sing Contralto Role in Messiah". The Berkshire Eagle. December 7, 1929. p. 8.
  18. ^ "Ragna Linne and Pupils". Musical Courier: 49. October 8, 1913.
  19. ^ "Women to Build Great Temple with Own Hands". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1908-11-01. p. 53. Retrieved 2025-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Hannen, Joseph H. (May 17, 1912). "The Public Meetings of the Fourth Annual Convention of Bahai Temple Unity". Star of the West. 3 (4): 32.
  21. ^ Lunt, Alfred E. (May 17, 1914). "Sixth Annual Convention of Bahai Temple Unity" (PDF). Star of the West. 5 (4): 53.
  22. ^ Fried, Alexander (January 11, 1927). "Commentaries on Pacific Coast Music". The Musical Digest. 11 (13): 10.
  23. ^ Woods-Bush, Carrie (January 1923). "Los Angeles Musical Notes". The Musical Observer. 22 (1): 71.
  24. ^ "Harriet Henders, 68, Soprano At the Met in the '40's, Is Dead". The New York Times. May 10, 1972. p. 50.
  25. ^ "Died While Mother Sang". The Daily Review. 1902-06-24. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  26. ^ "Strobel death notice". Chicago Tribune. 1905-03-09. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-08-28 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Who's who in Los Angeles County. C. J. Lang. 1929. p. 329.
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