Adelaide Andrejewa von Skilondz (also Andrejewa de Skilondz; – 5 April 1969) was a Russian

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....

 opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic coloratura soprano

Coloratura soprano

A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...

. She was born in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, where she studied singing and began her career in 1904. In 1909 she sang the role of the Queen of Shemakha in the Saint Petersburg premiere of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel

The Golden Cockerel

The Golden Cockerel is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Its libretto, by Vladimir Belsky, derives from Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, which in turn is based on two chapters of Tales of the Alhambra by...

. She also sang at the Berlin Hofoper until the start of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, at which time she moved to Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, where she performed in opera up until 1920 and in concert performances until 1930. Her roles there included the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute

The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....

, the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor....

, and Gilda in Verdi's Rigoletto

Rigoletto

Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...

. Later she taught singing. Among her students were Kerstin Meyer

Kerstin Meyer

Kerstin Margareta Meyer is a mezzo-soprano from Stockholm, Sweden.Meyer studied singing in Stockholm with Adelaide von Skilondz, at the Salzburg Mozarteum, and in Siena, Rome, and Vienna. Her debut was at the Royal Swedish Opera in 1952 as Azucena in Verdi's Il trovatore...

, Kim Borg

Kim Borg

Kim Borg was a Finnish bass, teacher and composer. He had wide-ranging, resonant, warm voice.-Biography:Kim Borg was born in Helsinki...

, Eva Gustavson

Eva Gustavson

Eva Gustavson , sometimes known as Eva Gustafson, was a Norwegian-American contralto who had an active international performance career in operas and concerts during the 1940s and 1950s...

, Eva Prytz

Eva Prytz

Eva Prytz was a Norwegian opera soprano.She was born in Oslo, but took her education in Stockholm, studying under Andrejewa de Skilondz. She was employed by the Royal Swedish Theatre from 1946 to 1967, and also held concerts in Oslo and several other European cities. She received several...

, and Elisabeth Söderström

Elisabeth Söderström

Elisabeth Anna Söderström CBE was a Swedish soprano, who performed both opera and song. She was particularly well known for her recordings of the lead soprano roles in the three Janáček operas Jenůfa, Káťa Kabanová, and The Makropoulos Affair, all of which received Gramophone Awards...

. She died in Stockholm at the age of 87.