Sándor Kónya

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Sándor Kónya in September 2000

Sándor Kónya (born September 23, 1923 in Sarkad , † May 20, 2002 in Ibiza ) was a Hungarian opera singer (tenor) and university teacher.

Life

Kónya first studied singing with Ferenc Székelyhidy at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest. He had to finance his studies by working at the slaughterhouse. He became a Hungarian soldier during World War II. After the end of the war in 1945 he came to West Germany and was imprisoned with other Hungarian soldiers in the Hamm internment camp. In 1946 in Ostbevern he gave a colorful evening with a small Hungarian variety group in the Sendker restaurant. The elementary school teacher Anton Giesert and Alfons Lehmkuhle spoke to him about his talent through an accompanying officer who had to interpret. They prophesied that he would one day sing Wagner arias.

“It was then that the thought of helping such a young talent matured in Giesert and myself. [...] We advised Kónya that he should escape from the Hammer internment camp at the right opportunity and then come to us in Ostbevern. One day he stood at the door as a "refugee". We took him in and he helped out with the farm and did all the work. "

- Alfons Lehmkuhle

Since he was threatened with being transported back to Hungary, he took the opportunity to escape and lived illegally as a displaced person in Ostbevern, where he learned German. Heinz Dressel , to whom he sang in Munster, referred him to the singing teacher Professor Frederick Husler in Steinhude , on whose property he initially settled at home and also met his wife Anneliese. So he continued his vocal training from 1946 at the Northwest German Music Academy Detmold with Professor Husler.

The young lyric tenor's first career stop was Bielefeld , where he stayed for a few years. There he made his debut in 1951 as Turiddu in the opera " Cavalleria rusticana ". There he later sang his first Lohengrin with huge success. For a few years he performed under the name Alexander Kónya. In 1955 he made the leap to the Städtische Oper in Berlin . It wasn't long before he sang as a guest in Hamburg , Munich and Stuttgart .

In 1958 Wieland Wagner brought him to Bayreuth as “ Lohengrin ” , which he sang like no other with a lyrical approach, for which he achieved world fame. Sandor Konya created this title role in Richard Wagner's opera in more than 300 performances in the course of his worldwide career. His voice slowly developed into a lyrical hero tenor. The voice color darkened, but retained its radiance and fullness. As part of the Bayreuth Festival , he also took on the role of Walter von Stolzing in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and, in 1960, Parsifal . In the same year Konya made his debut at La Scala in Milan and a year later at the New York Met . *** Konya spent 14 seasons in a row at the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang nearly 300 performances. The Italian subject in particular brought him spectacular successes. In this respect, the time at MET was the most important in his artistic life.

The expressiveness of his voice is documented on many records and CDs. This also applies to a series of operetta recordings by the Polydor company. Under the baton of Franz Marszalek , Kónya sang the grateful tenor parts in " The Land of Smiles ", "Paganini", "A Waltz Dream", " Die Fledermaus ", " The Gypsy Baron ", "Wiener Blut" and "Viktoria und ihr Husar". At that time, Konya played the Italian subject largely in German, as was customary at the time.

Later in his life, Sándor Kónya passed on his skills and experience as a professor at the Stuttgart University of Music to many young singers.

For a long time he lived in Steinhude am Steinhuder Meer .

In Ibiza, where he spent the last years of his life, he was co-founder and president of the cultural association "Pro Arte", which has contributed significantly to the development of a classical music culture in Ibiza.

He died in Ibiza at the age of 78.

literature

Eugen Kotte: Ostbevern in view of the post-war period, Ostbeverner Heimatblätter, No. 2, Ostbevern 1990, Alfons Lehmkuhle, My friend Sandor Konya: From Ostbevern via Bayreuth to Metropotitan-Opera New York pp. 61–65

Web links

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Eugen Kotte: Ostbevern in view of the post-war period, Ostbeverner Heimatblätter, Heft 2, Ostbevern 1990, Alfons Lehmkuhle, My friend Sandor Konya: From Ostbevern via Bayreuth to Metropotitan-Opera New York p. 61
  2. ↑ Eugen Kotte: Ostbevern in view of the post-war period, Ostbeverner Heimatblätter, No. 2, Ostbevern 1990, Alfons Lehmkuhle, My friend Sandor Konya: From Ostbevern via Bayreuth to Metropotitan-Opera New York pp. 61–62
personal data
SURNAME Kónya, Sándor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian opera singer (tenor) and university lecturer
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Sarkad
DATE OF DEATH May 20, 2002
Place of death in Ibiza