Gitta Alpár

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Gitta Alpár (1930s)
Gitta Alpár on a charity matine in the Berlin Zoo (1932)

Gitta Alpár , née Regina Klopfer (born February 5, 1903 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary , † February 17, 1991 in Palm Springs , California , USA ) was a Hungarian-American opera singer , actress and dancer .

Life

Born the daughter of a Jewish cantor , Regina Klopfer studied singing with Laura Hilgermann , then piano playing, and came to the Budapest University in 1916. From 1917 she and her brothers called themselves "Alpár". After her stage debut in 1923 as a classical coloratura soprano at the Budapest Opera , Gitta Alpár quickly became popular and also appeared at major opera houses in Vienna and Berlin . Her most frequently sung roles include the Queen of the Night from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte , Rosina from Rossini's Barber of Seville , Gilda from Verdi's Rigoletto and Violetta from Verdi's La Traviata . During a guest performance at the Berlin State Opera in London in 1929, she also sang the role of Sophie in Strauss' Rosenkavalier . After a triumphant success in Millöcker's begging student at the Berlin Metropol Theater , she switched to operetta in 1930 - like many of her opera colleagues . She sang with Richard Tauber in the Berlin premiere of Franz Lehár's Schön ist die Welt , the composer Theo Mackeben wrote the role of Countess Dubarry for her in the new version of Karl Millöcker's operetta Die Dubarry , which he edited . She had great success at the beginning of the 1930s, particularly in the operettas of her compatriot Paul Abraham , such as Ball im Savoy . “Die Alpár” became the operetta diva of the time.

She first appeared in front of the camera in 1932, directed by Carl Froelich . Since, as a Jew, she was not accepted into the Reich Chamber of Culture after the National Socialist accession to power in 1933 , her career broke off abruptly. Gitta Alpár went to Austria for her third film. His second marriage to the actor Gustav Fröhlich on April 5, 1931 resulted in daughter Julika in 1934. Out of consideration for the husband's career, the marriage was divorced again in 1935. He later denied the political situation as the reason for the separation. Alpár saw it differently and resisted any reconciliation even after 1945.

Gitta Alpár initially continued her career in Great Britain . When she was surprised by the outbreak of World War II while on tour in the United States , she did not return to Europe. For René Clair's film The Flame of New Orleans , she stood in front of the camera next to Marlene Dietrich in Hollywood in 1940 . However, she was unable to build on her pre-war European career. Decisive for the early end of her acting career in the US-American exile could have been the drop in her voice, the Hungarian accent and imperfect English skills.

Gitta Alpár was almost forgotten after 1945. Reports in West German newspapers and magazines were rare. A short two-column report appeared in the radio magazine Hörzu in 1951 under the heading "Where they stayed and what they did". There was talk of a planned comeback in Europe and a new show on Broadway ; both did not materialize.

The film Premiere in the Admiralspalast about the singer was made for GDR television in 1961 under the direction of Wolfgang E. Struck .

Gitta Alpár was in her third marriage to the Danish dancer, real estate agent and art collector Niels Wessel Bagge (1908–1990). In 1987 she received the Gold Filmband for many years of outstanding work in German film in Berlin .

Gitta Alpár died in 1991 and was buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles County .

Filmography

Discography (selection)

  • Yes, that's how it is, Dubarry
  • I give my heart just to a man
  • What can be as beautiful as your love
  • La Bella Tangolita
  • If you just want to love me , from: Madame Butterfly . 1st act. Duet with Hans Heinz Bollmann. Homocord 4- 9035. Probably 1931

literature

  • Christoph Dompke : Gitta Alpár. In: Exile Music Working Group at the Musicological Institute of the University of Hamburg (ed.): Life paths of female musicians in the “Third Reich” and in exile. (= Music in the “Third Reich” and in Exile , Volume 8.) von Bockel, Neumünster 2000, pp. 177–195.
  • Berthold Leimbach (Ed.): Sound documents of cabaret and their interpreters 1898–1945. Göttingen 1991 (in it: section Gitta Alpár)
  • Kay Less : 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. Acabus-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 70 f.

Web links

Commons : Gitta Alpár  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ according to some sources born in 1900
  2. ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Gitta Alpár
personal data
SURNAME Alpár, Gitta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alpár, Regina; Klopfer, Gitta (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian-American opera singer, actress and dancer
DATE OF BIRTH February 5, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Budapest , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH February 17, 1991
Place of death Palm Springs , California , USA