Emmerich Kálmán

Emmerich Kálmán (born Imre Koppstein, Siófok, October 24, 1882 – Paris, October 30, 1953), also known as Imre Kálmán, was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.

Kálmán was born in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary (formerly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in a Jewish family.

Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition instead. He studied music theory and composition at the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music (then the Budapest Academy of Music), where he was a fellow student of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály under Hans Kössler. His early symphonic poems were well-received, although he failed to achieve publication.

However, the popularity of his humorous cabaret songs led him towards the composition of operettas. His first great success was "Tatárjárás" (the German title is "Ein Herbstmanöver" ('Autumn Maneuver'), while the English name is "The Gay Hussars") first staged at the Lustspieltheater in Budapest, on February 22, 1908. Thereafter he moved to Vienna where he achieved worldwide fame by composing his operettas "Der Zigeunerprimas", "Die Csárdásfürstin", "Gräfin Mariza", and "Die Zirkusprinzessin".

Kálmán and Franz Lehár were the leading composers of what has been called the "Silver Age" of Viennese operetta during the first quarter of the 20th century. He became well-known for his fusion of Viennese waltz with Hungarian csardas. Even so, polyphonically and melodically, Kálmán was a devoted follower of Giacomo Puccini, while in his orchestration methods he employed principles characteristic of Tchaikovsky's music.

Despite his Jewish origin he was one of the favorite composers of Hitler. After Anschluss, rejecting Hitler's offer to become an 'honorary Arian', he was forced to move first to Paris, then in the year 1940 to USA, settling in California [http://www.lyricoperasandiego.org/resource_library/PeopleKalman.htm] . Following the emingration, his compositions were prohibited in Nazi Germany. He emigrated back to Vienna from New York in 1949, then moving to Paris in 1951, where he died.

Operettas with place and date of first production

*"Tatárjárás" — Budapest — 1908
**"Ein Herbstmanöver" — Vienna — 1909 (German version of "Tatárjárás")
**"The Gay Hussars" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=6811 New York] — 1909 (American version of "Tatárjárás")
**"Autumn Manoeuvres" — London — 1912 (English version of "Tatárjárás")
*"Az Obsitos" — Budapest — 1910
**"Der gute Kamerad" — Vienna — 1911 (German revision of "Az Obsitos")
**"Gold gab ich für Eisen" — Vienna — 1914 (revision of "Der gute Kamerad")
**"Her Soldier Boy" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=7767 New York] — 1916
**"Soldier Boy" — London — 1918
**"A Soldier's Promise" — Wooster, Ohio — 2005
*"Der Zigeunerprimas" — Vienna — 1912
**"Sari" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=7028 New York] — 1914
*"The Blue House" — London — 1912
*"Der kleine König" — Vienna — 1912
*"Zsuzsi kisasszony" — Budapest — 1915
**"Miss Springtime" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=8446 New York] — 1916
**"Die Faschingsfee" — Vienna — 1917 (German revision of "Zsuzsi kisasszony")
*"Die Csárdásfürstin" — Vienna — 1915
**"The Riviera Girl" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=8578 New York] — 1917
**"The Gipsy Princess" — London — 1921
*"Das Hollandweibchen" — Vienna — 1920
**"A Little Dutch Girl" — London — 1920
**"The Dutch Girl" — U.S. — 1925
*"Die Bajadere" — Vienna — 1921
**"The Yankee Princess" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=9125 New York] — 1922
*"Gräfin Mariza" — Vienna — 1924
**"Countess Maritza" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=10120 New York] — 1926
**"Maritza" — London — 1938
*"Die Zirkusprinzessin" — Vienna — 1926
**"The Circus Princess" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=10293 New York] — 1927
*"Golden Dawn" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=10507 New York] — 1927
*"Die Herzogin von Chicago" — Vienna — 1928
**"The Duchess of Chicago" — U.S. — 1929
*"Das Veilchen vom Montmartre" — Vienna — 1930
**"Paris in Spring" — U.S. — 1930
**"A Kiss in Spring" — London — 1932
*"Der Teufelsreiter" — Vienna — 1932
*"Kaiserin Josephine" — Zurich — 1936
*"Miss Underground" — written 1942, unproduced
*"Marinka" — [http://www.ibdb.com/production.asp?ID=1717 New York] — 1945
*"Arizona Lady" — Bern — 1954

References

* Clarke, Kevin. "Im Himmel spielt auch schon die Jazzband." Emmerich Kálmán und dir transatlantische Operette 1928–1932". Hamburg: von Bockel Verlag, 2007 (examines Kálmán's jazz-operettas of the 1920s, with extensive English quotes from historical Broadway- and West End reviews)
* [http://etd.lsu.edu/docs/available/etd-06142005-160600/unrestricted/Martin_thesis.pdf Article on the operettas of Kalman]
* [http://www.lyricoperasandiego.org/resource_library/PeopleKalman.htm Dedicated page on Lyric Opera San Diego]
* [http://operetta-research-center.org/main.php?task=searchart&tab=2&id=00084 Histocial reviews and a biography/worklist] by Kurt Gänzl)

Further reading

Nagibin, Yuri. Вечная музыка. Russia, ACT, 2004.(hardcover, ISBN 5-17-021655-6) (pp. 201–345)