Alexander Girardi

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Alexander Girardi

Alexander Girardi (born December 5, 1850 in Graz , † April 20, 1918 in Vienna ) was an Austrian actor and operetta singer (tenor).

Life

Alexander Girardi's birthplace (Leonhardstrasse 28 in Graz; 2011)
Grave of Alexander Girardi in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Alexander Girardi was born as the son of the Cortina d'Ampezzo master locksmith Andreas Girardi at Leonhardstraße 28 in Graz. After the early death of his father, he grew up with his stepfather, who let him complete an apprenticeship as a locksmith. Against his will, he joined the amateur theater group Die Tonhalle , where his talent was discovered. At Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Kai 50 there is still the empty Biedermeier theater of the Grazer Gesellenverein, in which Girardi first appeared as an actor. In 1871 he got an engagement at the Viennese Strampfer Theater . There he was often Josefine Gallmeyer's partner .

Alexander Girardi and his two theater directors at the Theater an der Wien: Alexandrine von Schönerer and Camillo Walzel

In 1874 Girardi moved to the Theater an der Wien , to which he remained loyal for 22 years. There he also celebrated his greatest successes as a vocal comedian and first youth . In 1896/97 he worked at the Carltheater and then for two years at the Deutsches Volkstheater in Vienna. In addition, guest appearances have taken him to all other important stages in Vienna, but also to Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden).

One of his best-known roles was Valentin in Raimunds Verschwender with his interpretation of the Hobelliedes (the best-known number in incidental music by Conradin Kreutzer ).

At the beginning of the First World War , Girardi withdrew from the stage and returned to his hometown Graz. Two months before his death in 1918, he received another call to the Vienna Burgtheater , where he played the role of Fortunatus Wurzel in Raimund's The Farmer as Millionaire .

Girardi was also known for his interpretation of the Viennese songs by Alexander Krakauer .

Marie Geistinger and Alexander Girardi, 1894
Girardi monument in Esperantopark and Girardipark on Karlsplatz in Vienna, Girardi in the role of Valentin, designed by Otto Hofner
Girardi's villa in Bad Ischl

Alexander Girardi died at the age of 67 on April 20, 1918 in the Löw Sanatorium in Vienna. He rests in the Vienna Central Cemetery (33E-9-16) in an honorary grave .

Act

Girardi was primarily seen as a representative of the easy subject. He continued the tradition of Ferdinand Raimund as an actor and Johann Nestroy as a poet in the role of comedian. But he also stamped his stamp on numerous operettas, which probably contributed to the success of the “golden age of Viennese operettas”.

The neurology reform under Emperor Franz Joseph can also be traced back to Alexander Girardi . His wife Helene Odilon wanted to incapacitate him and the doctor Josef Hoffmann (doctor at the Theater an der Wien) issued a certificate in which he declared Girardi to be mentally ill. At the last moment Girardi found out about this action and fled to Katharina Schratt . At her instigation and the involvement of the Burgtheater doctor Staniek and the forensic psychiatrist Hinterstoißer, Girardi was declared "sane". According to another account of this event, Girardi was briefly admitted to the mental hospital in Graz by the famous psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg without an examination. Girardi's wife Helene planned to have the actor incapacitated and used her contacts to Wagner-Jauregg for this. The actress Katharina Schratt, known to be the “friend” of the emperor, succeeded in getting Girardi out of the sanatorium through her social connections.

Legendary

Karl Paryla filmed Girardi's life in 1954 under the title Der Komödiant von Wien . With a lot of passion he succeeded in setting a cinematic monument to the comedian and actor.

The roast beef named after him is said to go back to Girardi himself : Since Girardi was known as a vegetable lover, one day the actress Katharina Schratt is said to have tried to reconcile the preferences of her two guests Girardi and Emperor Franz Joseph I , who preferred beef bring ". She instructed the cook to cover the beef with vegetables so that nothing of the meat could be seen - the Girardi roast was invented.

Girardi also made a flat, straight-brimmed straw hat popular, which he liked to wear. This hat later became known as the "Girardi hat".

The Girardigasse in Vienna- Mariahilf (6th district), the Girardigasse in Graz, the Alexander Girardi-Straße in Salzburg and the Alexander Girardi-Straße in Bad Ischl are named after him. In 1929 Otto Hofner created the Girardi monument in Girardipark in Vienna. In Cortina d'Ampezzo there is the Alexander Girardi Hall in his honor.

In Ernst Bloch's philosophical stories under the title “Traces” - first published in 1930 - there is one in which Bloch makes Girardi the protagonist. It is called "Spooky, stupid and improved", FFM 1985, p. 78 f.

Filmography

literature

Reception and afterlife

  • The case of Alexander Girardi , play by Nici Neiss, premiere April 2018 at the Theater Freie Bühne Wieden , Vienna

Web links

Commons : Alexander Girardi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Beatrix Schiferer: Alexander Girardi. Youth and People, Vienna-Munich. 1975. ISBN 3-7141-6531-2
  2. ↑ Reinhold M. Czar / Gabriele Timischl: Mysterious Styria. Magical, special, curious and unknown. Leopold Stocker Verlag, Graz 2011 ISBN 978-3-7020-1305-9 , p. 108.
  3. ↑ https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/kultur/buehne/960726_Publikumsliebling-fast-im-Irrenhaus.html
personal data
SURNAME Girardi, Alexander
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian actor and operetta singer (tenor)
DATE OF BIRTH December 5, 1850
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 1918
Place of death Vienna