FAMOUS CROATS - SIDONIJA ERDÖDY RUBIDO

SIDONIJA ERDÖDY RUBIDO (1819 – 1884) Sidonija Erdödy, married Rubido, is the most famous woman of the Illyrian Movement. Daughter of Karl Dragutin Erdödy and a French noblewoman Henriette de Harbuval et Chamaré, she spent her earliest childhood in the mansion of the Counts Erdödy at Razvor near Kumrovec. There, in the heart of Hrvatsko zagorje, she acquired a solid education from private teachers and received her first lessons in singing. At the incentive of Ljudevit Gaj, the fourteen year old Sidonija performed for the first time in public in Zagreb in March 1833. At the end of the concert she sang the patriotic song by Gaj Croatia Has Not Yet Fallen, composed by Ferdo Livadić. The enthusiastic public strongly applauded to the young artist, the press was full of praise and Sidonija became immediately the star of the Illyrian Movement. She joined the political life, stood next to Gaj, Demeter, Kukuljević and other Illyrians while the palace of the Hungarian noble family Erdödy in Zagreb Upper Town became an important meeting point of the opponents of pro-Hungarian policy. She regularly held concerts (always humanitarian) at which - along with German and Italian standard Opera repertoire, she constantly promoted also Croatian music. After only one month of lessons received from the famous music educator Caroline Unger, Sidonija was offered to accept the position of a solo singer in the Opera of Vienna. Sidonija refused that attractive offer; her heart drew her back to her homeland. She married in 1843 the nobleman of Spanish origin Antonio Rubido, and after a short period during which she did not perform because she became mother, she joined Albert Štriga in the promotion of the first opera in Croatian language Love and Malice (Ljubav i zloba), written at that time by Vatroslav Lisinski. At concert performances Sidonija sang some of the arias from that opera. At the premiere of Love and Malice on 28 March 1846 and in performances that followed it (on 29 and 30 March and 2, 4, 19 and 24 April) she sang the main female role, Ljubica. According to newspaper reviews, she significantly contributed to the great success of the opera. She continued to perform almost for a year and also to further support the Illyrian Movement as sponsor and almost fell into debts herself. Modest and a patriot, the countess of “lively” and “dulcet” voice, Sidonija Erdödy Rubido was a primadonna of the Illyrian Movement. Ennio Stipčević