Brief biography of Kalman

They said about him during his lifetime that he belongs to the whole world. Shostakovich called this composer a genius, and his friends called the "gloomy bear." A melancholic and a pessimist, a modest person who did not know how to have fun, but created almost two dozen filled with joy, love and good works, immersing in the world of the holiday and celebrations of justice.

His name is Imre Kalman - a master who is one of the most prominent representatives of the Vienna Operetta, who transformed it from the entertaining into the genre filled with realism and psychological depth. A brief biography of Kalman Emmerich - such a name was received by a boy who was born on October 24 in the family of Jewish merchant Karl Coppestein and his wife Paul Zinger, living in a small resort settlement of ShiFok, located on the shore of the famous Lake Balaton.

Emmerich already at an early age began to manifest unusual musical abilities, but at that time he did not think about his musical career. At the age of four, the baby dreamed of becoming a tailor, and two years later, when the time for studying at the gymnasium came, his childhood desires unfolded towards jurisprudence. Parents, trying to diversely develop their son, at eight years gave him to study in two schools at once: ordinary and musical.

The boy studied very carefully, but enthusiastically engaged in all subjects, he nevertheless paid special attention to music and spent every free minute after the piano, learning the works of great classics. Even during the holidays, his mother and cursing dragged him from the instrument to put him at the table and feed him. According to Kalman’s biography, Karl Coppstein was forced to move to Budapest as a very shaken financial situation.

For everyone, a difficult period has come, even the young Emmerich, who at that time studied in the fifth grade of the gymnasium, had to help the family, earning money with tutoring and correspondence of business letters. Nevertheless, the boy continued to study earnestly in two schools, delighting his parents with successes. The first public performance of the young musician took place in the spring of the year, the audience at this concert for the first time heard the performance of Imre Kalman.

The boy came up with this Hungarian name for himself, and under this pseudonym he subsequently recognized the whole world. The young man was fifteen years old, but he was so small and thin that the next day, journalists in the capital's newspapers praised the wonderful performance of a twelve -year -old child. Imre really in these years cherished the dream of a pianist’s career, but, unfortunately, she failed to realize.

Firstly, the parents of Imre associated the future of the young man with legal law, and secondly, soon because of the progressive arthritis, he had to say goodbye to the instrument. After the gymnasium was graduated, by the will of his father, Kalman was forced to enter the university at the Faculty of Jurisprudence, but a year later, not wanting to part with music, he secretly passed the exams from his parents and entered the music academy.

Having studied at the university, Imre never became a lawyer, he decided to connect his whole life with music. Father was categorically against such a decision of his son, but Imre stood on his own. As a result, the young man had to leave the family and earn a living himself. He tried his strength as a musical critic in one of the capital's newspapers, and besides this, he composed music for cheerful crucifixes for cabaret.

The beginning of the career. The first success. In the year at the Hungarian Opera Theater, a successful debut of Imre Calman as a composer took place. At the concert of the graduation course of the Academy of Music, his poems "Saturnalia" were first sounded - a work for a symphonic orchestra. After graduating from his studies, Kalman continued to work as a newspaper’s editor with a musical critic, and devoted all his free time to the composition and soon received the Robert Folkman awarded to the Budapest Academy of Music for the chamber-vocal cycle.

This reward allowed Imre to spend several weeks in Germany, where, taking this successful opportunity, he turned to all famous German music publishers, offering his works, but, unfortunately, was a refusal everywhere. Browned by the fact that no one needs Kalman returned to Budapest. The indignation of the young composer had no bounds: no one needs his serious works, but the frivolous music that he composed for restaurants was popular.

From the annoyance, Imre began to think about the composition of the operetta, but always in anger drove this thought away from himself: how he, a worthy student of the outstanding Kösler, would fall to such a frivolous genre. Perhaps it was precisely in such moments that the legendary author of operett took place, especially since the complex life circumstances consisted so that the squid needed to make an important decision.

And in the year he still writes his first operetta "Autumn maneuvers."The success of the premiere was so stunning that it was called the Victory holiday, but the most flattering was that the whole city the next morning sang melodies from a new performance. After the show in Budapest, Operetta was also enthusiastically met in Vienna, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, reached Russia, and then crossed the ocean with triumph.

At the zenith of glory, starting from the year, the life of Calman was associated with Vienna. At first, he often came here due to the productions of his performances, and then, having met his first love to Paulu Dvorzhak there, settled in the Austrian capital for many years. Imre at this time worked hard and hard. One after another, sparkling musical comedies came out from under his pen, which were so triumphantly walking around the world that even the First World War could not prevent them.

The melodies of the Queen Chardash - the operetta, who brought it to the author truly world fame, sang on both sides of the front.

However, during this period of life, fate prepared a blow to Kalman to a blow: at first the news came about the serious illness of her father, who did not leave the slightest chance of recovery, and then Imre was deeply shocked by the untimely death of his beloved older brother Bela. Kalman fell into depression, the way out of which he was helped by his beloved Paula and, of course, zealous work.

Only when the composer created his incendiary melodies, did he forget about all sorrows in the world. During this period, Imre composed one work after another, excerpts from which became hits and sang in different corners of the globe. All the composer’s operettas were saturated with love, but he himself loved his relatives and friends very much, and they left one after another.

Father died in the year, and in February, after a long and serious illness, Paula died - his love, wife and friend. However, six months later, the composer, who was at that time at the peak of glory, entered another woman - Vera Makinskaya. The Russian emigrant was so charming Imre that soon, namely in the year, their wedding took place. At that time of his life, Kalman was unusually happy: he had a beloved wife, who later gave the composer three children.

However, on the threshold there was a great trouble again. The sky of Europe in the mid -thirties began to delay the "dark clouds", and in March, Austria was annexed to Germany. The calm life of the Imre ended, since after five days he was urgently called to the imperial office, where he was reminded in humiliating form that his father was a Jew, but since the Reichscanler appreciates the musical merits of Calman, despite the origin, he was given the status of an honorary Aryan and allowed accommodation in Austria.

The indignant composer, who perceived this as an insult, recalled that, first of all, he was Hungarian and proudly abandoned such "mercy". Emigration Imre understood that the Germans would not forgive him such impudence, so he decided to urgently leave Vienna with his family. First they went to the Swiss Zurich, and then moved to Paris. But it was dangerous to stay there, since the Germans were approaching the French capital quickly, and in the year Calman had no choice but to hastily emigrate to the United States.

Such changes in life were a harsh test for the composer: he had to start all over the beginning, up to studying the English language. Having settled in America, Imre very much hoped that the film company, who bought the rights to adapt some of his operett, would also make orders to the music for films. However, the composer’s hopes were in vain: no one was going to shoot films on his works, and no one needed a squid in America in America.

Imre was disappointed, but did not give up. By his nature, he was a good businessman and knew how to properly invest money, and soon he was still offered a concert tour throughout the country, and the forgotten melodies from the operett Kalman again began to become fashionable. In addition, after a long creative break, namely in the year, he decided to write a new musical comedy "Marinka".

Living in America, Imre constantly followed the events taking place in Europe, especially in his beloved Hungary. When he found out about the death of both his sisters in the concentration camp, a heart attack happened to him, and in the winter of the year, a little moving away from the illness, Kalman decided to return to Europe. At the insistence of his wife, the family settled in Paris, as a large Russian diaspora lived there.

First of all in the year, Imre visited Vienna, where he visited the grave of F. Legar, and after a while, returning to Paris, he suffered a stroke, and then another heart attack. Despite the severe state of health, Kalman continued to work and the final note in his last operetta "Arizona lady" wrote a day before his death - October 30. Kalman never danced interesting facts about Kalman, but once at the ball he still did not dare to refuse a charming lady who invited him to a waltz.As a result, the composer brutally paid for this “careless” act for him: having made several movements, he was confused in the partner’s train and fell.

Under the loud laughter of those present, Imre left the hall with shame, but after that he decided that all his heroes is his operett, regardless of age, must be dancing. Since then, the artists of his performances, in addition to vocal parties, had to learn dance numbers. Imre Kalman had a very interesting habit: if the premiere performance was well passed, he did not immediately go to the audience to bow, and having hilled in any artistic restroom, he wrote columns of numbers on the cuff of his shirt, calculating the revenue from the play.

Once, a composer, present at a circus performance, seeing one number, was very intrigued. Acrobat performed in the arena, whose mask was dressed on his face. Kalman went through the scenes, as he really wanted to get acquainted with the mysterious artist. Having managed to talk to the circus, Imre found out that he was a descendant of a noble family from Russia, who, after the revolution, had to emigrate to Vienna and earn a living in the same way.

To not recognize him, the aristocrat was forced to hide his face. Impressed by the artist’s story, the composer decided to use this story for the plot of his new operetta. So appeared the "Princess of the circus." From the biography of Kalman, we learn that when Imre met Paula Dvorzhak, a dachshund lived in the apartment of his beloved woman, to which the hostess belonged with great tenderness.

Since then, wherever the composer lived, there have always been dogs in his house, and always only one breed - a dachshund. Kalman did not bother with the nicknames and always called his animals the names of the main characters of his operetta: balls, Silva, Maritsa, Marinka. Imre Calman with great veneration is treated all over the world. Monuments were erected to him at the composer’s homeland in Shiofok, as well as near the Operetta Theater in Budapest.

In addition, I. Kalman's memorable room was opened in the National Library of Austria, and astrologers perpetuated his name in the name of the asteroid. Imre Kalman was a very superstitious man who believed in many signs. He considered the leap year for himself happy, did not like the thirteenth number and black cats, was afraid of transferring the date of the premiere, kept the pencils that the scores wrote.

In the year, Imre Kalman for a significant contribution to musical art was awarded the French Order of the "Honorary of the Legion". Hitler really liked the music of Kalman, but after the composer in a daring form refused to become a true Aryan, he signed a sentence. The furious Reichsführer banned the production of operett Kalman in all theaters located in the territories controlled by Germany.

According to Kalman, his last work "Arizona Lady" was to be the first radio-Operetta. Moreover, the composer masterfully wrote not only music, but also the text, which made the performance bright and interesting. After the death of the composer in memory of him, his wife Vera established the "Kalman Foundation", the main task of which was the material support of young talented musicians around the world.

Kalman loved Vienna very much and bequeathed to bury himself in this city. His grave is located near the burials of the great composers: L. Beethoven, I.