Imre Kalman: biography and interesting facts

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The great composer Imre Kalman, whose operettas are staged in the best musical theaters around the world, lived a life full of work and creativity. He had to overcome many difficulties, experience the greatest success and meet great love. The heyday of the Viennese operetta is associated with his name, he forever entered the history of music as the creator of bright, optimistic and cheerful works, although his biography was often devoid of joy.

Childhood

The man we know today as Imre Kalman was born on October 24, 1882 in the small town of Siofok on Lake Balaton. His real name was Emmerich Koppstein. While still at school, he changed his Jewish surname to the more neutral Kalman. The boy's father was quite a prosperous bourgeois, the family lived in abundance, it had two more children besides Imre. However, a few years after the appearance of his youngest son, Karl Koppstein came up with the idea to turn his town into a prosperous resort. Heinvested a lot of money in the construction of a hippodrome, an operetta theater, and several hotels. But all this did not bring profit, and Kalman's father had to plunge into debt. Everything ended sadly: his property was confiscated for debts, and the family was forced to move to Budapest. Soon the head of the family sent Imre to live in the care of his aunt.

Education

At the age of 10, the boy was sent to two schools at once: a classical gymnasium and a music school. Despite the poverty, they bought a used piano for Imre, on which he practiced every free minute. But soon the financial situation worsened so much that the young man had to leave his studies and go to work. He began to give lessons in Latin and Greek to high school students and continued to study music on his own. Poverty made him a shy and unsociable young man, but he developed a business acumen. Thanks to his perseverance, Imre Kalman was able to enter a music school. He even began to give concerts, which brought him fame and a small income.

However, a tragic failure awaited him again: while retraining in preparation for a music competition, Imre injured his little finger, which forever ceased to unbend. I had to forget about music. Imre Kalman moved to the composition class, on the advice of the professor, he began to write symphonic works. But they were not successful. He still managed to graduate from college and entered the Academy of Music. At the insistence of his relatives, Kalman also had to enter the Faculty of Law. Thanks toThrough incredible efforts, he was able to graduate from two educational institutions, becoming a lawyer and a certified musician.

Find yourself

To earn money for existence, Imre Kalman, as a student, begins to write critical articles for a music column in a newspaper. After graduating from the academy, he went to work for a newspaper, as he categorically did not want to be a lawyer. Relatives really hoped that he would go into law, and when it turned out that this was not the case, he lost any financial support. And again he had to work with a double load: during the day he writes for the newspaper, and in the evenings he writes music. His critical work brought him a minimal income, he could not afford anything extra. But he was glad that, according to his position, he could attend any concerts and theaters, since he could not afford tickets.

The path of the composer

Even at the Academy, Imre Kalman writes serious musical works: symphonic music, piano pieces and even songs and verses. But no one wanted to publish and perform his compositions. Once, the musician even joked in despair that this would lead him to start composing operettas.

In 1905, luck smiled at Kalman, he won the Budapest Academy of Music Prize for a cycle of songs. This money allowed him to spend 6 weeks in Berlin. There, the composer went around all the music publishing houses, hoping to publish the songs, but this did not happen. In desperation from poverty and the categorical rejection of his music, composer Imre Kalman decides to turn to the "lowgenre" - operetta.

Success

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a deep crisis in the operetta. In 1899, the "king of w altzes" Johann Strauss, who wrote popularly beloved operettas for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, died. For ten years, this genre withered and died. And Imre Kalman, whose musical works categorically did not find recognition and approval, at that time lost faith in himself and suffered from lack of money. Completely angry with the whole world, including himself, the composer locks himself in a rented apartment in the suburbs of Graz to write good music, and the first operetta, Autumn Maneuvers, comes out from under his pen. The premiere of the work took place in Budapest, and when the reception was more than warm, Kalman decided to show it in the capital. In 1909, Vienna applauded the new genius of the operetta, and a little later, the composer received well-deserved success in Berlin and Hamburg. Kalman moves to live in Vienna and gets to work.

From that moment on, Kalman began to create operettas very productively, some of them were successful, some did not stand the test of time. But still he was able to get fame and fortune. He became a well-to-do person, and all this is due to his diligence and talent. Success continued until 1933. In 1932, all of Vienna enthusiastically applauded the maestro on his 50th birthday. He was awarded various awards and prizes. But in 1933, the composer's professional happiness came to an end.

Operettas

Starting to write operettas, Kalman develops his own style. His works andsparkle with joy. Apparently, in them he splashed out all his hopes and dreams, which had accumulated a lot during his difficult life. In 1912, he created the work "Gypsy Premier", which fully expressed the composer's innovation: Hungarian folk melodies, mixed composition, dynamic action. Despite the fact that this work was not destined to experience success, nevertheless, the musician from that time believes more and more that he has found his way. He begins to collaborate with professional librettists and works tirelessly.

In 1915, Imre Kalman, whose "Silva" became a real sensation, is widely recognized. He becomes a recognized master of operetta, his we alth grows, he can finally stop worrying about tomorrow. In 1921, the premiere of "La Bayadere" took place, in 1924 - "Maritsa". The composer has firmly taken the place of the leading musician of Vienna, the capital of music has chosen a new king.

In 1926, the operetta created by Imre Kalman, "Princess of the Circus", became his real triumph. There was a place in it for everything that the public loved so much, arias from this work were sung everywhere. Since the action of the operetta is partly set in Russia, it is not surprising that one of the first productions took place in Moscow.

The Violet of Montmartre expected no less success, it was shown in Vienna a record number of times - 170! But the beginning of the 30s became difficult for Europe and Austria, the Nazis came to power, and Kalman was a Jew. He had to worry about his life again.

Emigration

In 1938, Imre Kalman, whose biography is full of difficulties and trials, was forced to leave Austria. First, he leaves for Paris, where he receives the Order of the Legion of Honor, then - to the USA. He lived in America for 11 years, suffered a stroke there and, at the insistence of his relatives, returned to Europe, settling in Paris. During his emigration, Kalman created only two operettas - "Marinka" and "Lady of Arizona", which were no longer as successful as the composer's earlier works.

Creative legacy

The works of Imre Kalman are known all over the world today. Although he wrote only 17 operettas. Of these, 9 have become part of the repertoire of many musical theaters not only in Europe, but also in the United States. In addition, several symphonic and piano works of the composer have been preserved. The best works of Kalman are considered to be the operettas "Gypsy Premier", "Queen of Czardas", "Countess Maritza", "Princess of the Circus", "Violet of Montmartre".

Three loves of Imre Kalman

Imre Kalman had a very interesting personal story, there were three strongest passions in his life. The composer was, in general, a nondescript man: small in stature, large bald patches already at a young age, gloomy, notorious. Nothing foretold him great success with the opposite sex.

His first great love was Paula Dvorak - a beauty, an operetta actress. He first saw her on the day of the triumphal premiere of his first operetta in Vienna. Kalman Imre put a lot of effort into winning the heart of a diva, she was 10 years older than him, their romance wasdizzy. But Paula did not want to marry the composer. She knew that she would never have children. She took care of Imra, cooked for him, provided comfort, and he was satisfied with such a life. He worked hard, she was there. But the idyll is over. After 18 years of marriage, Paula died of tuberculosis. The composer's grief knew no bounds. During their romance, he created his best operettas.

Even during her lifetime, Paula thought about how Kalman would live without her. She constantly inspired him with the idea that he would marry a young woman who would bear him children. To this end, she introduced him to the bright actress of aristocratic origin Agnes Esterházy. Feelings broke out between the composer and the actress. After the death of Paula Kalman hoped to marry Agnes. He bought her a mansion, showered her with flowers and gifts. But once he found out about his girlfriend's infidelity, he could not forgive her for this.

In 1940, Kalman met a very young emigrant from Russia, Vera Makinskaya, who was trying to become a film actress. The composer was struck by her youth and beauty. He married Vera, but the marriage was not happy, although three children were born in it. Vera was passionate about parties, expensive purchases, novels, but not Kalman. Imre forgave her everything, begged her not to leave him, took care of the children. He simply had no time to write, and inspiration ceased to visit him.

Recent years

After a stroke in 1949, Kalman was partially paralyzed. His life was difficult, he took care of children, triedwrite music, but he was not good at it. Returning to Paris in 1950, Imre Kalman tries to work, creates the last operetta, which became a complete failure of the composer. On October 30, 1953 Kalman died. He was buried in Vienna, the city of his triumph.

Interesting facts

Even at the age of 4, Imre Kalman was fond of music, he spent hours sitting under the windows of a professor, a violinist, when he was studying. Later, he practiced playing the piano for 16 hours a day, which led to the injury.

It is interesting that Kalman was a very sensible and reasonable person. But I was terribly afraid of Fridays and the number "13". He never scheduled premieres on the 13th, he believed that his lucky number was "17", and he tried to have his operettas shown for the first time on such days. He also believed that operettas should bear female names, only then they are guaranteed success.