Greta Keller

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Greta Keller in the Scala in Berlin, 1936

Greta Keller (born February 8, 1903 in Vienna ; † November 4, 1977 there ; actually Margaretha Keller ) was a chanson singer ( Diseuse ) of Austrian origin who gained international fame.

Life

Greta Keller was the daughter of Karl and Magdalena Keller, b. Zausner. She received dance and acting lessons at an early age. However, she made her career primarily as a radio and record star. In 1916 she made her debut at the Vienna Volkstheater , after which she played with (the still unknown) Marlene Dietrich in the Revue Broadway at the Wiener Kammerspiele . Allegedly, she is said to have given the future world star her vocal technique - to sing in a rough voice in a whisper. Keller came to Berlin via Prague and finally to London and Paris.

In 1928 Greta Keller married Joe Sargent and moved with him to California, where they lived in a house on the outskirts of Hollywood . However, she continued to perform in Europe. She sang in Paris and London and in 1929 she signed with Ultraphon . Soon the BBC took an interest in her, and in 1932 she made her first appearance in New York . After her divorce from Sargent in 1933, she went on an extensive tour of Scandinavia. An engagement at the Vienna Ronacher was followed by one at the Scala in Berlin , where Greta Keller also worked with Peter Igelhoff . From 1936 to 1937, she toured Germany with Peter Kreuder .

In his second marriage, Keller married the American actor David Bacon , who was murdered in 1943. The murder has not yet been solved. She was pregnant by him at the time, and her pregnancy was at an advanced stage. She collapsed at the news of his murder and later lost the child. During the Second World War , she took up residence in New York. She only lived in Europe again after 1945. In the St. Moritz Palace Hotel she opened the “Chez Greta” nightclub , in which she also performed successfully for years. And at the beginning of the 1960s, the New York club “The Waldorf Keller” in the Waldorf Astoria brought her long-awaited fame as well as prominent guests and visitors, for example the then New York Mayor John Lindsay and the politicians Kurt Waldheim and Willy Brandt .

Memorial plaque for Greta Keller at the house of her last residence at Singerstraße 12 in Vienna

Until shortly before her death, Keller made guest appearances on stages in Europe and America. Since 1973, Keller worked and traveled with her partner Wolfgang Nebmaier. He also produced her last record for Preiser Records and ultimately ensured that the entire estate of Greta Keller was handed over to the German Cabaret Archive in Mainz. Wolfgang Nebmaier now lives in Southern Oregon.

As one of the first artists, Keller exploited the expanded possibilities of the microphone for the artistic creation of chansons . Her dark-timbred voice created intimacy and was capable of the finest nuances between passion, melancholy and irony. She had a large repertoire ranging from Viennese songs to French chanson to jazz standards and even some classical songs. Keller has sung hundreds of songs , hits and chansons in numerous languages ​​on record. Significantly, a cookbook she designed was published in the USA with the announcement “Die Keller sings in five languages ​​and cooks in fifteen.” Many of her recordings were republished on CD .

The grave dedicated to her in honor of her is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery ( group 40, number 53 ). Since 2007, Greta-Keller-Gasse in Vienna- Liesing (23rd district) has been named after her.

In the 1972 film Cabaret , Keller's voice can be heard off-screen with the song "Heirat".

On November 4, 2002, on the occasion of Keller's 25th anniversary of death , the " Komödie am Kai " organized a chanson evening under the title "Thanks for the Memory", which was integrated into their résumé and a video cassette was produced.

In September 2012 the play Bon Voyage by Rupert Henning premiered at the Vienna Volkstheater , a chanson evening with Keller songs based on an idea by André Heller ; Andrea Eckert was the first cast in the one-person piece.

On the 35th anniversary of Greta Keller's death on November 4, 2012, the "Komödie am Kai" presented a slightly modified version of the chanson evening from 2002 under the title Remember me .

Greta Keller around 1968

Discography (selection)

Greta Keller's grave at Vienna's central cemetery

Shellac records :

  • 1935: Between today and tomorrow ( Foxtrot ), text: Hans Fritz Beckmann , music: Peter Kreuder / Of all things you! ( Slowfox ), text: Hans Fritz Beckmann, music: Herbert Borders . Accompaniment: Peter Kreuder and orchestra - Telefunken order no. A 1845 (mat. No. 20842/49, recorded in June 1935)
  • 1936: When you say goodbye, say hello / That's a wine! , from the film Burgtheater , text: Harry Hilm, music & accompaniment: Peter Kreuder and his soloists (B-side: text: Fritz Löhner-Beda , music: Willy Engel-Berger ) - Telefunken order no. A 2081 = TA 512 (mat. No. 21513/14, recorded in November 1936)

LPs :

  • 1953: Greta Keller sings Kurt Weill , Ten Inch LP, SWOBC, Cool Burt Goldblatt Cover Art Atlantic as 405M
  • 1960: Greta Keller, Das Schönste von then ([re-publication of recordings from the years] 1935–1938), Telefunken HT-P 500, with Peter Kreuder and orchestra
  • 1975: In Concert 1975 . Original recorded live in New York 1972. Stanyan: SR10041
  • 1977: Memories , RCA international 42053

Web links

Commons : Greta Keller  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Keller, Greta (own Margaretha). Music lexicon, July 11, 2014, accessed August 17, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Guido Tartarotti: Volkstheater: Eckert brings Greta Keller back. kurier.at, September 15, 2012, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  3. ^ Werner Rosenberger: "Bon Voyage": Andrea Eckert solo. kurier.at, September 9, 2012, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  4. ^ Director Erich L. Koller: Thanks for the Memory . Ed .: "Komödie am Kai". Vienna November 4, 2002.
  5. ^ Werner Rosenberger: "Bon Voyage": Andrea Eckert solo. kurier.at, September 9, 2012, accessed on August 17, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Comedy on the quay: program for "Remember me" . Vienna November 4, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Keller, Greta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian chanson singer
DATE OF BIRTH February 8, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH 4th November 1977
Place of death Vienna