Hedy Gura

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Hedy Gura , birth name Hedwig Braun, also Hedi Gura, Heda Gura , (born January 21, 1893 in Munich ; died March 18, 1967 in Hamburg ) was a German opera singer ( mezzo-soprano ) and singing teacher.

Life

There are contradicting information about Hedy Gura's parents and other relatives. Her mother (born December 6, 1866 Nuremberg) was a née Pencil Steiner, her first marriage was Braun, her second marriage was Böhm, and the father was Braun (born 1844 Munich, died 1904 Kufstein, Bavaria), Jewish. Her stepfather was Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Böhm, Vienna. Other sources name Eugen Gura jun. (born 1869), who worked as an actor in Munich for over 30 years. There are also contradicting information from the siblings. Rosa Braun-Gura is named as a sister. She was imprisoned for 3 years, her brother was murdered in the concentration camp. There are also contradicting statements regarding the marriage. In the personnel files of the Hamburg State Opera is Eugen Gura, actor? (died Sept. 13, 1944) as husband. A son is noted in this file.

Hedy Gura studied singing in Munich and initially appeared on smaller German theaters. In 1933 she received an engagement at the Hamburg State Opera . There she appeared, very much admired by the city's opera audience, in more than 3,000 performances, mainly as a performance artist. Her repertoire included roles from Mozart's Così fan tutte (Dorabella) and Figaro's wedding (Marcelline), Lortzings Wildschütz (Countess), Bizet's Carmen (title role), Puccini's Madama Butterfly (Suzuki), Verdi's masked ball (Ulrica) and Falstaff (Mrs. Quickly), Mascagnis Cavalleria rusticana (Mother Lucia), Wagner's Meistersingern (Magdalene), Strauss ' Rosenkavalier (Octavian and Annina), Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (witch), Strauss' Fledermaus (Orlowsky), Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress (Turk's Bab) and Bohuslav Martinůs The wedding . In 1951 she made a guest appearance with the Hamburg State Opera in Dublin. After her stage farewell in 1954, she worked as a singing teacher.

Engagements

During the time of National Socialism

Since Hedy Gura was considered a "half-Jewish", her position at the Hamburg City Theater was immediately questioned in 1933. Since she did not grow up with her father, her son was in the SS, hardly anyone knew of her Jewish origins and the Hamburg City Theater did not want to do without her, her work permit was extended from year to year and in 1937 by a "special permit" from Hans Hinkels confirmed. After 1945, Hedy Gura stated that despite the “special permit” she had been subject to professional restrictions and had been excluded from teaching, radio, film, guest performances and fee claims. In the course of the denazification process in 1945, she was not assigned to any of the categories and was thus acquitted.

Eugen Gura was her grandfather, Hermann Gura her uncle. Both were also opera singers.

literature

  • Your element of life: the stage. Alto Hedy Gura is celebrating her 70th birthday. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, January 24, 1964.
  • StengelT / GerigkH 1941, Lexicon of Jews in Music. With a list of titles of Jewish works. Compiled on behalf of the Reich leadership of the NSDAP on the basis of official, party officially checked documents, Theo Stengel, Herbert Gerigk (edit.), (= Publications of the Institute of the NSDAP for the investigation of the Jewish question, vol. 2), Berlin: Bernhard Hahnefeld, 1941, ( 1st edition 1940, anti-Semitic publication).
  • Bettina Fellinger: Opera and theater in the "Gau Hamburg", in: Zündende Lieder - Burned Music. Consequences of Nazi Fascism for Hamburg Musicians, Peter Petersen, Working Group Exile Music (Ed.), Completely revised. Ed., Hamburg: VSA, 1995, pp. 185-198.
  • Lexicon on German musical culture: Bohemia, Moravia, Sudeten Silesia, 2 vols., Sudetendeutsches Musikinstitut, Widmar Hader, Klaus-Peter Koch (ed.), Munich: Langen Müller, 2000.
  • Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Large singer lexicon . Munich: Saur, 2003.
  • Erich Lüth: Hamburger Theater 1933–1945, Hamburg: Buekschmitt, 1962.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lexicon of persecuted musicians from the Nazi era at the University of Hamburg
  2. ^ A b c d Hamburg State Opera, [1] contains: Personal files Gura, Hedy
  3. ↑ KutschKJ / RiemensL / RostH 2003
personal data
SURNAME Gura, Hedy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German opera singer (mezzo-soprano) and singing teacher
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH March 18, 1967
Place of death Hamburg