Works of Kalman. Russian love by Imre Kalman. The composer met his muse in the wardrobe. “After parting there will be a meeting...”

I know that half a page of Liszt's score will outweigh all my operettas - both already written and future ones... Great composers will always have their fans and enthusiastic admirers. But along with them there must also be theater composers who do not neglect the light, cheerful, witty, elegantly dressed musical comedy, the classic of which was Johann Strauss.
I. Kalman

He was born in a resort town located on the shores of Lake Balaton. The very first and indelible musical impressions of little Imre were the piano lessons of his sister Vilma, the violin playing of Professor Lilde, who was vacationing in Siófok, and the operetta by J. Strauss “Die Fledermaus”. Gymnasium and music school in Budapest, H. Kesler's composition class at the Franz Liszt Academy and at the same time studying law at the university's Faculty of Law - these are the main stages of the future composer's education. He began composing music already in his student years. These were symphonic works, songs, piano pieces, couplets for cabaret. Kalman also tested himself in the field of music criticism, working for 4 years (1904-08) in the newspaper Pesti Napló. The composer's first theatrical work was the operetta “The Inheritance of Pereslen” (1906). It suffered an unfortunate fate: seeing political sedition in a number of episodes, government authorities tried to have the performance quickly removed from the stage. Recognition came to Kalman after the premiere of the operetta “Autumn Maneuvers.” Staged first in Budapest (1908), then in Vienna, it subsequently traveled to many stages in Europe, South Africa and America.

The following musical comedies brought world fame to the composer: “Soldier on Leave” (1910), “Gypsy Premier” (1912), “Queen of Csardas” (1915, better known as “Silva”). Kalman became one of the most popular authors of this genre. Critics noted that his music stands on a solid foundation of folk song and clearly expresses deep human feelings, his melodies are simple, but at the same time original and poetic, and the finales of operettas are real symphonic paintings in terms of their development, first-class technique and brilliant instrumentation.

Kalman's creativity reached its peak in the 1920s. At this time he lived in Vienna, where the premieres of his “Bayadere” (1921), “Countess Maritza” (1924), “The Circus Princess” (1926), and “The Violets of Montmartre” (1930) took place. The melodic generosity of the music of these works created in the listeners a misleading impression of the carelessness and lightness of Kalman's composer's pen. And although this was only an illusion, Kalman, who had a wonderful sense of humor, in a letter to his sister advised her not to disappoint those interested in his work and talk about his work like this: “My brother and his librettists meet every day. They drink several liters of black coffee, smoke countless cigarettes and cigarettes, tell jokes... argue, laugh, quarrel, shout... This goes on for many months. And suddenly one fine day the operetta is ready.”

In the 30s The composer works a lot in the genre of film music, writes the historical operetta “The Devil's Rider” (1932), its premiere was Kalman's last in Vienna. The threat of fascism looms over Europe. In 1938, after the capture of Austria by Nazi Germany, Kalman and his family were forced to emigrate. He spent 2 years in Switzerland, in 1940 he moved to the USA, and after the war, in 1948, he returned to Europe and lived in Paris.

Kalman, along with J. Strauss and F. Lehár, is a representative of the so-called Viennese operetta. He wrote 20 works in this genre. The enormous popularity of his operettas is explained primarily by the merits of the music - brightly melodic, effective, brilliantly orchestrated. The composer himself admitted that his work was greatly influenced by the music of P. Tchaikovsky and especially the orchestral art of the Russian master.

Kalman’s desire, as he put it, “to play music from the bottom of his heart in his works,” allowed him to unusually expand the lyrical side of the genre and break out of the enchanted circle of operetta cliches that was enchanted for many composers. And although the literary basis of his operettas is not always equivalent to the music, the artistic power of the composer’s work surpasses this shortcoming. Kalman's best works still adorn the repertoire of many musical theaters around the world.

I. Vetlitsyna

Imre Kalman was born on October 24, 1882 in the small Hungarian town of Siófok on the shores of Lake Balaton. His musical talent was versatile. In his youth, he dreamed of becoming a virtuoso pianist, but, like the idol of his youth, Robert Schumann, he was forced to give up this dream, “outplaying” his hand. For several years he seriously thought about becoming a music critic, being an employee of one of the largest Hungarian newspapers, Pesti Naplo. His first experiments as a composer received public recognition: in 1904, his graduation work, the symphonic scherzo “Saturnalia,” was performed at a concert of graduates of the Budapest Academy of Music, and he was awarded the Budapest City Prize for chamber and vocal works. In 1908, the premiere of his first operetta, “Autumn Maneuvers,” took place in Budapest, which soon traveled to the stages of all European capitals and was staged overseas (in New York). Since 1909, Kalman's creative biography has been associated with Vienna for a long time. In 1938, the composer was forced to emigrate. He lived in Zurich, Paris, and from 1940 in New York. Kalman returned to Europe only in 1951. He died on October 30, 1953 in Paris.

Three periods can be distinguished in Kalman's creative evolution. The first, covering the years 1908-1915, is characterized by the formation of an independent style. Among the works of these years (“Soldier on Leave,” “Little King,” etc.), “Gypsy Premier” (1912) stands out. Both the plot of this “Hungarian” operetta (the conflict between “fathers and sons”, a love drama combined with the creative drama of the artist), and its musical solution indicate that the young composer, following in the footsteps of Lehár, does not copy his discoveries, but creatively develops, building an original version of the genre. In 1913, after writing “The Gypsy Premier,” he justifies his position as follows: “In my new operetta, I tried to move somewhat away from my favorite dance genre, preferring to play music from the bottom of my heart. In addition, I intend to give a greater role to the choir, which in recent years has been involved only as an auxiliary element and to fill the stage. As a model, I use our operetta classics, in which the choir was not only needed to sing the “ha-ha-ha” and “ah” in the finales, but also took a large part in the action.” In “The Gypsy Premier” the masterful development of the Hungarian-Gypsy principle also attracted attention. The prominent Austrian musicologist Richard Specht (in general not the biggest fan of operetta) singles out Kalman in this regard as the “most promising” composer who “stands on the luxurious soil of folk music.”

The second period of Kalman’s work opens in 1915 with “Queen of the Csardas” (“Silva”), and ends with “Empress Josephine” (1936), staged not in Vienna, but outside Austria, in Zurich. During these years of creative maturity, the composer created his best operettas: “Bayadera” (1921), “Countess Maritza” (1924), “The Circus Princess” (1926), “The Duchess of Chicago” (1928), “The Violet of Montmartre” (1930) .

Kalman worked on his last works, “Marinka” (1945) and “Arizona Lady” (completed by the composer’s son and staged after his death), in exile in the USA. In his creative path, they represent a kind of afterword and do not make fundamental changes to the interpretation of the genre that developed at the central stage of evolution.

Kalman's musical and stage concept is individual. It is characterized, first of all, by such a level of drama and conflict in the development of the main line of action, which operetta has never known before. The attraction to pointed stage situations is combined with an unprecedented intensity of expression: where in Lehár the lyrics of romantically colored feelings are captivating, in Kalman genuine passion vibrates. The author of La Bayadère expresses intra-genre contrasts more sharply; his melodramatic pathos is set off by the brilliance of especially masterfully interpreted comedic interludes. Melos, just as rich and varied as Legarov’s, is emotionally rich and imbued with eroticism; it makes wider use of the rhythms and intonations of jazz.

Kalman's operatic prototypes of the genre very clearly appear - both in the interpretation of plots and in musical style; It is no coincidence that “Silva” is called “an operetta paraphrase of La Traviata,” and “The Violet of Montmartre” is likened to Puccini’s “La Bohème” (with all the more reason that the plot basis of both works was Murger’s novel). The operatic nature of Kalman's thinking is clearly revealed in the field of composition and drama. Ensembles, and especially the big finales of acts, become for him the supporting points of the form and the key moments of the action; The role of the choir and orchestra is great in them; they actively develop leitmotiv thematics and are saturated with symphonic development. Finales coordinate the entire development of musical dramaturgy and give it logical purposefulness. Lehár's operettas do not have such dramatic integrity, but they demonstrate some variety of structural options. In Kalman’s work, the structure, outlined in general terms in “The Gypsy Premier” and finally formed in “The Queen of Csardas,” is reproduced with minimal deviations in all subsequent works. The tendency to unify the structure, of course, creates the danger of forming a certain template, but in the best works of the composer this danger is overcome by the convincing implementation of a proven scheme, the brightness of the musical language, and the relief of the images.

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Imre (Emmerich) Kalman(Hung. Kálmán Imre, German. Emmerich Kalman; October 24 - October 30) - Hungarian composer, author of popular operettas: “Silva”, “Bayadera”, “The Circus Princess”, “The Violet of Montmartre” and others. Kalman's work ends the heyday of Viennese operetta.

Biography

After the Anschluss of Austria, refusing the offer to become an “honorary Aryan,” Kalman emigrated - first to Paris (), then to the USA (). His operettas were banned in Nazi Germany, and two of Kalman's sisters died in concentration camps.

: Kalman divorces Vera, but after a few months they reunite.

After the defeat of Nazism, in the winter of 1949, Kalman came to Europe, laid a wreath on Lehár’s grave, then returned to the USA. In 1949, after a stroke, he was partially paralyzed. Then his health improved somewhat, and in 1951 Kalman, at the insistence of Vera, moved to Paris, where he died 2 years later. He was buried, according to his will, in Vienna at the Central Cemetery. A memorial room for Kalman has been opened at the Austrian National Library. Featured on a 1982 Austrian postage stamp.

Creation

Kalman's music has no equal in operetta in its festiveness, elegance, and refined melody and orchestration. It is invariably permeated with Hungarian motifs - even if the character is Indian ("La Bayadera"), Russian ("The Circus Princess") or French ("The Violet of Montmartre"), but the most Hungarian of Kalman's operettas is "Maritsa".

• "Autumn Maneuvers" ( Tatárjarás, she's the same Ein Herbstmanöver, 1908, Budapest)
• "Soldier on Leave" ( Az Obsitos, she's the same Der gute Kamerad, 1910, Budapest)
• "Little King" ( Der kleine König, 1912, Vienna)
• "Gypsy Prime Minister" ( Der Zigeunerprimás, 1912, Vienna)
• "Queen of Czardas (Silva)" ( Die Csárdásfürstin, 1915, Vienna)
• "Carnival Fairy" ( Die Faschingsfee, 1917, Vienna)
• "Dutch" ( Das Hollandweibchen, 1920, Vienna)
• "Bayadera" ( Die Bajadere, 1921, Vienna)
• "Maritsa" ("Countess Maritza") ( Grafin Mariza, 1924, Vienna)
• "Circus Princess" ( Die Zirkusprinzessin, 1926, Vienna)
• "Golden Dawn" ( Golden Dawn, 1927, New York)
• "The Duchess of Chicago" ( Die Herzogin von Chicago, 1928, Vienna)
• "Violet of Montmartre" ( Das Veilchen vom Montmartre, 1930, Vienna)
• "Devil Rider" ( Der Teufelsreiter, 1932, Vienna)
• "Empress Josephine" ( Kaiserin Josephine, 1936, Zurich)
• "Marinka" ( Marinka, 1945, New York)
• "Arizona Lady" ( Arizona Lady, 1953, Bern)

Memory

• Film “Der Czardas-König” (dir. Harald Philip, produced in Germany)
• D/f “Composer Imre Kalman” (Grigory Yaron talks about Kalman’s life and work)
• Film “The Mystery of Kalman” (dir. Gyorgy Palasti, produced in the USSR, Hungary)

Film adaptations of Kalman's works

IN THE USSR

• - "Silva"
• - "Mister X "
• - “Under the roofs of Montmartre”
• - "Silva"
• - "Circus Princess"
• - "Maritsa"

In other countries

• - “Gypsy Premier” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Der Zigeunerprimas), Germany.
• - “Carnival Fairy” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Die Faschingsfee), Germany.
• - “Countess Maritza” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Grafin Mariza), Germany.
• - “Princess of Czardasha” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (French) Princesse Czardas), France.
• - “Princess of Csardas” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Die Czardasfurstin), Germany.
• - “Princess of Csardas” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Die Csardasfurstin), Germany, with Marika Röck.
• - “Maritza” (German) Grafin Mariza), Germany.
• - “Circus Princess” (English) on the Internet Movie Database (German). Die Zirkusprinzessin), TV production, Germany - Austria.
• - “Princess of Csardas” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Die Czardasfurstin), Germany - Hungary - Austria, with Anna Moffo, went to the USSR.
• - “Countess Maritza” (English) on the Internet Movie Database website (German). Grafin Mariza), Germany.

see also

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Notes

Literature

• Vladimirskaya A. R.. - L.: Art, 1975. - 136 p.
• Kalman Vera. Do you remember? The Life of Imre Kalman. - M.: Educational book plus, 2002, 336 p. ISBN 5-05-005406-0.
• Yuri Nagibin. The brilliant and sorrowful life of Imre Kalman. / In the book: Musicians. - M.: Sovremennik, 1986. - (New items from Sovremennik).
• Trauberg L. Jacques Offenbach and others. - M.: Art, 1987. (Chapter 12: Kalman)
• Yaron G. M.- M.: Art, 1960.
• Savransky V. (comp.) Imre Kalman. Collection of articles and memories. - M.: Soviet composer, 1980.

Links

Excerpt characterizing Kalman, Imre

“Yes, well, it will be,” said another.
- What do I care, let him hear! Well, we are not dogs,” said the former police officer and, looking back, he saw Alpatych.
- And, Yakov Alpatych, why are you there?
“By order of his Excellency, to Mr. Governor,” answered Alpatych, proudly raising his head and putting his hand in his bosom, which he always did when he mentioned the prince... “They deigned to order to inquire about the state of affairs,” he said.
“Well, just find out,” shouted the landowner, “they brought it to me, no cart, no nothing!.. Here she is, do you hear? - he said, pointing to the side where the shots were heard.
- They brought everyone to perish... robbers! - he said again and walked off the porch.
Alpatych shook his head and went up the stairs. In the reception room there were merchants, women, and officials, silently exchanging glances among themselves. The office door opened, everyone stood up and moved forward. An official ran out of the door, talked something with the merchant, called behind him a fat official with a cross on his neck and disappeared again through the door, apparently avoiding all the looks and questions addressed to him. Alpatych moved forward and the next time the official exited, putting his hand in his buttoned coat, he turned to the official, handing him two letters.
“To Mr. Baron Asch from General Chief Prince Bolkonsky,” he proclaimed so solemnly and significantly that the official turned to him and took his letter. A few minutes later the governor received Alpatych and hastily told him:
- Report to the prince and princess that I didn’t know anything: I acted according to the highest orders - so...
He gave the paper to Alpatych.
- However, since the prince is unwell, my advice to them is to go to Moscow. I'm on my way now. Report... - But the governor didn’t finish: a dusty and sweaty officer ran through the door and began to say something in French. The governor's face showed horror.
“Go,” he said, nodding his head to Alpatych, and began asking the officer something. Greedy, frightened, helpless glances turned to Alpatych as he left the governor’s office. Unwittingly now listening to the nearby and increasingly intensifying shots, Alpatych hurried to the inn. The paper that the governor gave to Alpatych was as follows:
“I assure you that the city of Smolensk does not yet face the slightest danger, and it is incredible that it will be threatened by it. I am on one side, and Prince Bagration on the other side, we are going to unite in front of Smolensk, which will take place on the 22nd, and both armies with their combined forces will defend their compatriots in the province entrusted to you, until their efforts remove the enemies of the fatherland from them or until they are exterminated in their brave ranks to the last warrior. You see from this that you have every right to reassure the inhabitants of Smolensk, for whoever is protected by two such brave troops can be confident of their victory.” (Instruction from Barclay de Tolly to the Smolensk civil governor, Baron Asch, 1812.)
People were moving restlessly through the streets.
Carts loaded with household utensils, chairs, and cabinets continually drove out of the gates of houses and drove through the streets. In the neighboring house of Ferapontov there were carts and, saying goodbye, the women howled and said sentences. The mongrel dog was barking and spinning around in front of the stalled horses.
Alpatych, with a more hasty step than he usually walked, entered the yard and went straight under the barn to his horses and cart. The coachman was sleeping; he woke him up, ordered him to lay him to bed and entered the hallway. In the master's room one could hear the crying of a child, the wracking sobs of a woman, and the angry, hoarse cry of Ferapontov. The cook, like a frightened chicken, fluttered in the hallway as soon as Alpatych entered.
- He killed her to death - he beat the owner!.. He beat her like that, she dragged her like that!..
- For what? – asked Alpatych.
- I asked to go. It's a woman's business! Take me away, he says, don’t destroy me and my little children; the people, he says, have all left, what, he says, are we? How he started beating. He hit me like that, he dragged me like that!
Alpatych seemed to nod his head approvingly at these words and, not wanting to know anything more, went to the opposite door - the master's door of the room in which his purchases remained.
“You are a villain, a destroyer,” shouted at that time a thin, pale woman with a child in her arms and a scarf torn from her head, bursting out of the door and running down the stairs to the courtyard. Ferapontov followed her and, seeing Alpatych, straightened his vest and hair, yawned and entered the room behind Alpatych.
- Do you really want to go? - he asked.
Without answering the question and without looking back at the owner, looking through his purchases, Alpatych asked how long the owner was supposed to stay.
- We'll count! Well, did the governor have one? – Ferapontov asked. – What was the solution?
Alpatych replied that the governor did not tell him anything decisive.
- Are we going to leave on our business? - said Ferapontov. - Give me seven rubles per cart to Dorogobuzh. And I say: there is no cross on them! - he said.
“Selivanov, he got in on Thursday and sold flour to the army for nine rubles a sack.” Well, will you drink tea? - he added. While the horses were being pawned, Alpatych and Ferapontov drank tea and talked about the price of grain, the harvest and favorable weather for harvesting.
“However, it began to calm down,” said Ferapontov, drinking three cups of tea and getting up, “ours must have taken over.” They said they won't let me in. This means strength... And after all, they said, Matvey Ivanovich Platov drove them into the Marina River, drowned eighteen thousand, or something, in one day.
Alpatych collected his purchases, handed them over to the coachman who came in, and settled accounts with the owner. At the gate there was the sound of wheels, hooves and bells of a car leaving.
It was already well after noon; half the street was in the shade, the other was brightly lit by the sun. Alpatych looked out the window and went to the door. Suddenly a strange sound of a distant whistle and blow was heard, and after that there was a merging roar of cannon fire, which made the windows tremble.
Alpatych went out into the street; two people ran down the street towards the bridge. From different sides we heard whistles, impacts of cannonballs and the bursting of grenades falling in the city. But these sounds were almost inaudible and did not attract the attention of residents in comparison with the sounds of gunfire heard outside the city. It was a bombardment, which at five o'clock Napoleon ordered to open on the city, from one hundred and thirty guns. At first the people did not understand the significance of this bombing.
The sounds of falling grenades and cannonballs aroused at first only curiosity. Ferapontov’s wife, who had never stopped howling under the barn, fell silent and, with the child in her arms, went out to the gate, silently looking at the people and listening to the sounds.
The cook and the shopkeeper came out to the gate. Everyone with cheerful curiosity tried to see the shells flying over their heads. Several people came out from around the corner, talking animatedly.
- That’s power! - said one. “Both the lid and the ceiling were smashed into splinters.”
“It tore up the earth like a pig,” said another. - That’s so important, that’s how I encouraged you! – he said laughing. “Thank you, I jumped back, otherwise she would have smeared you.”
The people turned to these people. They paused and told how they got into the house near their core. Meanwhile, other shells, now with a quick, gloomy whistle - cannonballs, now with a pleasant whistling - grenades, did not stop flying over the heads of the people; but not a single shell fell close, everything was carried over. Alpatych sat down in the tent. The owner stood at the gate.
- What haven’t you seen! - he shouted at the cook, who, with her sleeves rolled up, in a red skirt, swaying with her bare elbows, came to the corner to listen to what was being said.
“What a miracle,” she said, but, hearing the owner’s voice, she returned, tugging at her tucked skirt.
Again, but very close this time, something whistled, like a bird flying from top to bottom, a fire flashed in the middle of the street, something fired and covered the street with smoke.
- Villain, why are you doing this? – the owner shouted, running up to the cook.
At the same moment, women howled pitifully from different sides, a child began to cry in fear, and people with pale faces silently crowded around the cook. From this crowd, the cook’s moans and sentences were heard most loudly:
- Oh oh oh, my darlings! My little darlings are white! Don't let me die! My white darlings!..

Emmerich Kalman, a Hungarian composer and author of popular operettas, was born on October 24, 1882.

Hungarian composer Imre (Emmerich) Kalman was born on October 24, 1882 in the city of Siófok (Austria, now Hungary), on the shores of Lake Balaton, in the family of a Jewish merchant, Karl Koppstein.

Soon the family moved to Budapest, where the father went bankrupt. While still at school, the boy changed his last name to Kalman. He studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Budapest, while simultaneously studying at the Academy of Music (now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music), the composition class of Hans Kesler.

In 1904-1908, Kalman worked as a music critic for the Budapest newspaper Pesti Naplo.

He began composing music already in his student years. These were symphonic works, songs, piano pieces, couplets for cabaret.

Kalman's symphonic works were not very successful, but his song cycle received the Grand Prize of the City of Budapest. On the advice of his friend, composer Victor Jacobi, author of the operetta "Bride Fair", Kalman decided to try his hand at operetta. His first operetta, Autumn Maneuvers, staged in 1908 in Budapest, was a success with audiences. Then it was staged in Vienna (Austria) and subsequently traveled to many stages in Europe and America.

In 1908, the composer moved to Vienna, where his best works were created - the operettas "Gypsy Premier" (1912), "Queen of Czardas" (known as "Silva", 1915), "Bayadera" (1921), "Countess Maritza" (1924), "The Circus Princess" (1926), "The Violet of Montmartre" (1930). Most of Kalman's operettas are associated with the national Hungarian song and dance melodic style - the Verbunkos style, characterized by emotional melodicity and rhythmic diversity.

In the 1930s, the composer worked a lot in the genre of film music, wrote the historical operetta "The Devil's Rider" (1932), the premiere of which was Kalman's last in Vienna.

In 1938, after the capture of Austria by Nazi Germany, Kalman was forced to emigrate first to Paris (1938), then to the USA (1940). His operettas were banned in Nazi Germany. Abroad, the composer wrote only two operettas, “Marinka” (1945) and, shortly before his death, “The Arizona Lady.”

In addition to 20 operettas, Kalman wrote several works for orchestra (the symphonic poems "Saturnalia" (1904) and "Endre and Johann" (1905) and others), works for piano, vocal works, music for theater and cinema.

In 1949, after a stroke, Kalman was partially paralyzed. After his health improved, at the insistence of his loved ones, in 1951 he moved to Paris. On October 30, 1953, Imre Kalman died. According to his will, he was buried in Vienna at the Central Cemetery.

The composer was awarded the French Legion of Honor (1934).

A memorial room for Kalman was opened in the National Library of Austria.

In Russia, Imre Kalman's operettas are performed in almost all musical theaters in the country. Most often in the Moscow Operetta Theater, the Musical Theater on Basmannaya, the Musical Comedy Theater (St. Petersburg), and the Yekaterinburg Musical Comedy Theater.

Imre Kalman was married to a Russian emigrant from Perm, actress Vera Makinskaya, to whom he dedicated the operetta “The Violet of Montmartre”. They had a son and two daughters.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

He was called the “King of Operetta” and the “Emperor of Vienna.” Even during his lifetime they said about him that he belonged to the whole world. D.D. Shostakovich called this composer a genius, and his friends called him “a gloomy bear.” A melancholic and pessimist, a modest person who did not know how to have fun, but who created almost two dozen works filled with joy, love and goodness, immersing him in the world of celebration and the triumph of justice. His name is Imre Kalman, a master who is one of the most prominent representatives of Viennese operetta, transforming it from entertainment into a genre filled with realism and psychological depth.

Read a short biography of Imre Kalman and many interesting facts about the composer on our page.

Brief biography of Kalman

Emmerich - this is the name given to the boy who was born on October 24, 1882 in the family of Jewish businessman Karl Koppstein and his wife Paulie Singer, living in the small resort settlement of Siófok, located on the shores of the famous Lake Balaton.

Emmerich began to show extraordinary musical abilities at an early age, but at that time he did not think at all about a musical career. At four years old, the kid dreamed of becoming a tailor, and two years later, when it was time to study at the gymnasium, his childhood desires turned towards jurisprudence. Parents, trying to diversify their son’s development, at the age of eight sent him to study in two schools at once: an ordinary school and a music school. The boy studied very diligently, but enthusiastically studied in all subjects, he still paid special attention to music and spent every free minute at the piano, learning the works of the great classics. Even during the holidays, his mother scolded him and pulled him away from the instrument to sit him down at the table and feed him.

According to Kalman's biography, in 1896 the family of Karl Koppstein was forced to move to Budapest due to a severely shaken financial situation. A difficult period began for everyone, even young Emmerich, who was in the fifth grade at the gymnasium at that time, had to help his family, earning money by tutoring and writing business letters. Nevertheless, the boy continued to study diligently in two schools, delighting his parents with his success. The young musician’s first public performance took place in the spring of 1898; the public at this concert heard Imre Kalman perform for the first time. The boy came up with this Hungarian name for himself, and the whole world subsequently recognized him under this pseudonym. 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 remarkable performance of the twelve-year-old prodigy. During these years, Imre really cherished the dream of becoming a pianist, but, unfortunately, it did not come true. Firstly, Imre’s parents linked the young man’s future with legal law, and secondly, soon due to progressive arthritis he had to say goodbye to the instrument.

After graduating from high school, Kalman, at the behest of his father, was forced to enter the university at the Faculty of Law, but a year later, not wanting to be separated from music, he secretly passed the exams from his parents and entered the Academy of Music. After studying at the university, Imre never became a lawyer; he decided to connect his whole life with music. The father was categorically against his son’s decision, but Imre stood his ground. As a result, the young man had to leave his family and earn his own living. He tried his hand as a music critic in one of the capital's newspapers, and also composed music for funny couplets for cabaret.

Carier start. First success.

In 2004, Imre Kalman made his successful debut as a composer at the Hungarian Opera House. At the concert of the graduating class of the Academy of Music, his poem “Saturnalia” - a work for a symphony orchestra - was performed for the first time. After finishing his studies, Kalman continued to work in the editorial office of a newspaper as a music critic, and devoted all his free time to composition and soon received the Robert Volkmann Prize, awarded by the Budapest Academy of Music, for his chamber vocal cycle. This reward allowed Imre to spend several weeks in Germany, where he, taking advantage of such a good opportunity, contacted all the famous German music publishing houses, offering his compositions, but, unfortunately, was refused everywhere.

Upset that no one needed his works, Kalman returned to Budapest. The young composer’s indignation knew no bounds: no one needed his serious works, but the frivolous music he composed for restaurants was popular. Out of frustration, Imre began to think about writing an operetta, but he always drove this thought away from himself in anger: how could he, a worthy student of the outstanding Koesler, stoop to such a frivolous genre. Perhaps it was precisely in such moments that the birth of the legendary author of operettas took place, especially since difficult life circumstances developed in such a way that Kalman needed to make an important decision. And so, in 1908, he nevertheless wrote his first operetta, “Autumn Maneuvers.” The success of the premiere was so stunning that it was called a victory holiday, but the most flattering thing was that the very next morning the whole city was singing melodies from the new performance. After being shown in Budapest, the operetta was also enthusiastically received in Vienna, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm, reached Russia, and then crossed the ocean in triumph.

At the zenith of glory

Since 1909, Kalman's life was connected with Vienna. At first, he often came here for the production of his plays, and then, having met his first love Paula Dvorak there, he settled in the Austrian capital for many years. Imre worked a lot and hard at this time. One after another, sparkling musical comedies came out of his pen, which marched so triumphantly throughout the world that even the First World War could not stop them. Melodies " Queens of Czardas" - the operetta, which brought its author truly world fame, was sung on both sides of the front.

However, during this period of his life, fate prepared blow after blow for Kalman: first came the news of his father’s serious illness, which 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, from which his beloved Paula and, of course, hard work helped him find a way out. Only when the composer created his fiery melodies did he forget about all the sorrows in the world. During this period, Imre composed one work after another, excerpts from which became hits and were sung in different parts of the globe. All the composer's operettas were imbued with love, but he himself loved his family and friends very much, and they left one after another. In 1924, his father died, and in February 1928, after a long and serious illness, Paula, his love, wife and friend, died.

However, six months later, another woman entered the life of the composer, who was at the peak of fame at that time, Vera Makinskaya. The Russian emigrant charmed Imre so much that soon, namely in 1930, their wedding took place. At that period of his life, Kalman was unusually happy: he had a beloved wife, who later gave the composer three children. However, big trouble was again on the doorstep. In the mid-thirties, “dark clouds” began to overshadow the skies of Europe, and in March 1938, Austria was annexed to Germany. Imre's quiet life ended, because after only five days he was urgently summoned to the Imperial Chancellery, where he was humiliatingly reminded that his father was a Jew, but since the Reich Chancellor appreciated Kalman's musical merits, despite his origin, he was given the status of honorary Aryan and allowed to live in Austria. The indignant composer, who took this as an insult, recalled that, first of all, he was Hungarian and proudly refused such “mercy.”

Emigration

Imre understood that the Germans would not forgive him for such impudence, so he decided to urgently leave Vienna with his family. They first went to Zurich, Switzerland, and then moved to Paris. But it was dangerous to stay there, since the Germans were rapidly approaching the French capital, and in 1940 Kalman had no choice but to hastily emigrate to the United States. Such changes in life became a severe test for the composer: he had to start all over again, including learning English. Having settled in America, Imre really hoped that the film company, which had bought the rights to film adaptations of some of his operettas, would also place orders for music for films. However, the composer’s hopes were in vain: no one was going to make films based on his works, and no one needed Kalman’s music in America. Imre was disappointed, but did not give up. By nature, he was a good businessman and knew how to invest money correctly, and soon he was offered a concert tour throughout the country, and forgotten melodies from Kalman’s operettas began to come into fashion again. In addition, after a long creative break, namely in 1945, 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 learned about the death of both his sisters in a concentration camp, he suffered a heart attack, and in the winter of 1948, having recovered a little from his illness, Kalman decided to return to Europe. At the insistence of his wife, the family settled in Paris, since there was a large Russian diaspora there. First of all, in 1949, Imre visited Vienna, where he visited the grave of F. Lehár, and after some time, returning to Paris, he suffered a stroke, and then another heart attack. Despite his serious health condition, Kalman continued to work and wrote the final note in his last operetta “The Arizona Lady” the day before his death - October 30, 1953.

Interesting facts about Kalman

• Kalman never danced, but one day at a ball he still did not dare refuse a charming lady who invited him to a waltz. As a result, the composer paid severely for this “careless” act: after making several movements, he became entangled in his partner’s train and fell. To the loud laughter of those present, Imre left the hall in disgrace, but after that he decided for himself that all the heroes of his operettas, regardless of age, must dance. Since then, the artists of his performances, in addition to vocal parts, also had to learn dance numbers.

• Imre Kalman had a very interesting habit: if the premiere performance went well, he did not immediately go out to the audience to bow, but, huddled in some artistic restroom, he wrote columns of numbers on the cuff of his shirt, counting the proceeds from the performance.
• Once the composer, attending a circus performance, saw one number and was very intrigued. An acrobat was performing in the arena with a mask on his face. Kalman went backstage because he really wanted to meet the mysterious artist. Having managed to get the circus performer to talk, Imre learned that he was a descendant of a noble family from Russia, who, after the revolution, had to emigrate to Vienna and earn his living in a similar way. To avoid being recognized, 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. This is how " Circus Princess".
• From Kalman's biography we learn that when Imre met Paula Dvorak, a dachshund lived in the apartment of his beloved woman, whom the owner treated with great tenderness. Since then, no matter where the composer lived, there were always dogs in his house, and always only one breed - dachshund. Kalman did not bother with nicknames and always named his animals after the main characters of his operettas: Shari, Silva, Maritsa, Marinka.
• Imre Kalman is held in high regard throughout the world. Monuments to him were erected in the composer’s homeland in Siófok, as well as near the operetta theater in Budapest. In addition, a memorial room for J. Kalman was opened in the National Library of Austria, and astrologers immortalized his name in the name of the asteroid.

• Imre Kalman was a very superstitious person who believed in many omens. He considered leap year lucky for himself, did not like the thirteenth and black cats, was afraid of the premiere date being postponed, and kept the pencils with which he wrote scores.
• In 1934, Imre Kalman was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his significant contribution to the art of music.
• Hitler really liked Kalman's music, but after the composer defiantly refused the favorable offer to become a true Aryan, he signed his own doom. The enraged Reichsführer banned the production of Kalman's operettas in all theaters located in German-controlled territories.
• According to Kalman's plan, his latest work, “The Arizona Lady,” was to become the first radio operetta. Moreover, the composer masterfully wrote not only the 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 financial support for 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 graves of great composers: L.V. Beethoven, I. Brahms and I. Strauss.

• Imre Kalman had three children: a son, Charlie, and two daughters, Lily and Ivonka. Charlie inherited his father's musical abilities and also became a composer. He worked in various genres, ranging from serious symphonic works to pop songs. Kalman's daughter Lili was also a very gifted person and even helped her brother create musicals, which were then successfully staged in Europe. Subsequently, becoming interested in painting, she became an illustrator.

The works of Imre Kalman

Imre Kalman left for posterity a rich creative heritage, which is very popular nowadays. This can be explained, first of all, by the generally recognized merits of his music: bright melodicism and brilliant orchestration. According to the composer himself, he studied art all his life from the works of P.I. Tchaikovsky, whom he considered his main idol. Imre Kalman created his first musical creations during his student years and, despite the fact that the whole world subsequently recognized him as an unsurpassed master of operetta, the composer at the beginning of his creative career tried himself in a variety of musical genres. These were works of symphonic, piano and vocal music. Among the composer's works of that period, it is worth noting a vocal cycle on poems by Ludwig Jakubowski, a scherzo for string orchestra, poems for a large symphony orchestra “Saturnalia”, as well as “Endre and Johann”. Then he wrote several musical numbers for the patriotic play “The Legacy of Pereslen”.

And then something happened that Kalman himself did not understand how he was drawn into a genre that he treated with disdain. It all started with an unexpected order from a publisher, who offered to compose a funny song for a newly opened cabaret for a good reward. At first, Imre was even offended - he is the author of serious works and suddenly some kind of hit, but he still quickly wrote the song and took it to the editor. The cabaret opened, the song was performed, and lo and behold, it was then sung everywhere, and the nameless author of the melody became a very popular composer in the Hungarian capital. Kalman was surprised and even regretted that he had hidden his authorship, however, he soon composed another similar composition, releasing it under his own name, and was not mistaken: the second hit surpassed the first. Imre caught himself thinking that composing such cheerful melodies is simply a pleasure. Inspired by such ease, he began to write his first operetta, “The Tatar Invasion,” which was later renamed “Autumn Maneuvers.” After the triumphant premiere of “Invasion” in Budapest, the play was staged in the Austrian capital, which meant that Imre Kalman was recognized as a master in this genre.

The evolution of Kalman's work can be divided into three periods. The first stage, which is characterized by the formation of the composer’s original style, includes such works as “Soldier on Leave,” “Little King” and “Gypsy Prime Minister.” The second stage, marked by the flowering of Kalman's work, begins with Silva, painted in 1915, and ends in 1936 with Empress Josephine. During this period, Imre created his best masterpieces: “Dutch Girl”, “Bayadera”, “ Maritsa", "Circus Princess", "Duchess of Chicago", " Violet of Montmartre" Critics at that time noted that Kalman's operettas are real symphonic paintings. The last, final stage of the composer’s work took place in exile. The difficult separation from his homeland, the foreign culture of an unfamiliar country - all this did not inspire Imre to create new works. Only nine years later did he write his penultimate operetta, “Marinka,” and eight years later he put an end to his work by composing “The Arizona Lady” - a work, as he said, that was a tribute to the continent that sheltered his family in difficult times.

Three love stories by Imre Kalman

Three women played a major role in the life and work of Imre Kalman. The first is Paula Dvorak, an actress from Salzburg. She was ten years older than Imre and devoted the remaining eighteen years of her life to the composer, creating home comfort for him and instilling in him confidence in his own abilities. Imre never experienced such spiritual intimacy as with Paula with anyone else: she was his guardian angel and friend who protected the composer’s talent. At first, Paula took care of him herself: she cooked food, did laundry, cleaned the apartment and paid all the bills, and later hired all the servants. Kalman persistently persuaded his beloved woman to register the relationship, but Paula refused him, because due to her illness she could not give the composer children. The composer was with his beloved until her very last breath. When Imre was asked how often he remembers Paula, the composer replied that he never forgets her.

Kalman's second love was silent film actress Agnes Esterhazy, a representative of a brilliant aristocratic family. The relationship between the composer and the actress was quite complicated. Imre, who grew up in a patriarchal family, really wanted children, and Agnes was quite happy with the role of the famous composer’s mistress. In addition, the actress's career was in its prime, and she did not want to take a break from it. Agnes was Kalman's muse: she was the prototype of the heroines of all his masterpieces: Silva, Theodora and Maritza. After breaking up with Agnes, whom Kalman could not forgive for betrayal, the composer no longer wrote anything particularly worthwhile except “The Violet of Montmartre.”

Kalman's biography says that Imre's third and last love was an emigrant from Russia, Vera Makinskaya. They met by chance in a small cafe in 1928, and a year later, when Vera turned 17, they got married. The composer's dream soon came true, and he became the father of three children: a son and two daughters. In the family life of Vera and Kalman, not everything was smooth; the thirty-year age difference between husband and wife had an effect: Imre was looking for peace, and Vera loved to have fun. It even came to a divorce, the reason for which was a young and rich Frenchman. However, Vera still could not leave Kalman and her children; she remained the wife of the great composer until the end of her days.

Music of Imre Kalman in the USSR

In the Soviet Union, Kalman's music was especially popular. She morally supported people during the difficult times of the Great Patriotic War. People in besieged Leningrad, who had lost loved ones and were swollen from hunger, went to the theater to listen to the operettas of the great Hungarian composer. And the actors who played in the plays, performing their personal feats, gave people a fairy tale where music reigned, fun and there was always a happy ending. During the war, the task of Soviet cinema was to produce films that supported the morale of not only the defenders of the Motherland, but also those who helped them on the home front with their heroic work, one of such films was “Silva”, filmed in 1944. Then, in peacetime, Mister X (1958), Under the Roofs of Montmartre (1975), once again Silva (1981), Circus Princess (1982) and Maritza (1985) were filmed. In addition to the operettas of I. Kalman, the film “The Riddle of Kalman,” shot by Hungarian filmmakers based on the script of the Soviet writer Yu. Nagibin about the life and work of the great Hungarian composer, enjoyed great success among Soviet television viewers.

Imre Kalman is an outstanding composer who, with his work, made a significant contribution to the development of world musical culture. The spectacular, unforgettable melodies that form the basis of his operettas are extremely popular nowadays. They are constantly heard from the stages of concert halls and television screens performed by famous opera singers. Today Kalman's works are necessarily included in the repertoire of all musical theaters, but, in addition, the direct descendant of the operetta - the musical - is gaining increasing recognition.

Video: watch a film about Imre Kalman

It seemed that there could be nothing in common between the Russian emigrant and the famous Hungarian composer. At first, Imre Kalman only showed friendly concern for the poor young girl. Then no one could have imagined that Vera Makinskaya was destined to become the last happiness of a genius. The story of their relationship could form the basis of one of the operettas of that time.

Non-random meeting

Vera Makinskaya first saw Imre Kalman backstage at the Berlin Theater in 1926. Having learned that she was Russian, the composer sympathized with the girl who was forced to wander in a foreign land from a young age.

The next meeting took place two years later. Vera was 17, she lived in a Viennese boarding house and passionately wanted to become an actress. But there were enough extras in the theater; we could only hope for a lucky break. Together with her friends who shared a room with her, after lunch she went to a nearby cafe. This same establishment was often visited by representatives of the musical and artistic elite. Every aspiring actress dreamed of meeting a person here who would have the opportunity to help in the career takeoff of a young talent.

Imre Kalman and Vera simultaneously approached the counter to pick up the coat, the cloakroom attendant gave preference to Kalman, contemptuously saying that the girl did not pay anywhere. And Kalman suddenly offered her his help. Vera made up her mind. Even the role of an extra in his new operetta suited her.

At the theater, he took care of his young protégé and fed her a ham bun every day, giving Vera his simple breakfast. He bought her the first decent outfit.

And then his beloved Agnes Esterhazy came to the theater for the premiere. Probably, it was then that the young actress realized that she had fallen in love. And in the morning she made a real scene for him, without even realizing that by doing this she was completely betraying her feelings. Imre Kalman just smiled and shook his head. He knew for sure that she won this fight the very moment she first appeared before him in the Sacher Cafe.

Dreams Come True

The composer dedicated his “Violet of Montmartre” to faith. / Photo: www.kp.by

Their romance developed very rapidly. But for a long time the composer could not believe that Veruschka, of all the men, chose him. For Vera, all hopes for the future were concentrated in this middle-aged and very kind gentleman. He could have helped her become a celebrity, but it turned out that Vera Makinskaya did not have acting talent. But she has a sober and practical mind. She sees an opportunity to escape poverty by tying the knot with Imre Kalman.

The composer was in no hurry to propose to her, but the fear of losing his beloved, whom his mother threatened to take away from Vienna and from his life, made him decide to get married.

She couldn’t shine on stage, but at the social events she organized in Kalman’s house, Vera felt like a real star. True, her husband at this time preferred to sit in the kitchen. He did not know most of his guests, but he also did not want to deprive his wife of the opportunity to have fun. The great Imre Kalman perceived the birth of children as a reward from above. He was happy. He dedicated one of his best operettas, “The Violet of Montmartre,” to Vera.

“After parting there will be a meeting...”

The rise to power of Hitler and the victorious march of Nazi troops across Europe forced Kalman to set off first to France, then to America. Hitler loved music and provided the composer with his personal patronage, but Imre could not and did not want to have anything to do with fascism.

They had to start everything from scratch in an unfamiliar country. The family was experiencing financial difficulties, and Veruschka got a job as a saleswoman in a salon. Where she met a French rich man who proposed her hand and heart.

She asked Kalman for a divorce, and he let her go, caring exclusively about the happiness and well-being of his beloved. True, the separation was short-lived. The very first meeting after receiving the divorce documents shook both Vera and her husband. Soon they lived together again, trying not to remember this unpleasant moment in their lives.

Return

The lack of interest in Kalman's music in America, the separation from his beloved Verusha, and then the news of the death of Kalman's sisters in a fascist concentration camp seriously undermined his health. In 1949, the composer suffered a stroke.

Her husband’s illness changed Vera’s attitude towards him. According to her own recollections, she realized how dear this person was to her; their shared experiences brought them closer. The unexpected second wind of their love greatly contributed to the composer’s recovery.

In 1950, the family returned to Europe. Kalman wanted to settle in Zurich, but again gave in to his wife and her desire to live in Paris. The maestro spent his last days in the company of his sister Irmgard, his nurse. Imre Kalman did not limit the freedom of his wife, but gradually brought her up to date with all matters, anticipating her imminent death.

On October 30, 1953, Imre Kalman passed away quietly in his sleep. After the death of her husband, Vera did not remarry, devoting the rest of her life to preserving the legacy of her husband. But she is still called the woman who took Imre Kalman away from music.

There was also a frivolous muse in the life of the great composer,