ACFNY SUPPORTED | CONCERT | MEIN LIEBESLIED MUSS EIN WALZER SEIN | OPERETTA REVUE & TRIBUTE TO MARTHA EGGERT’S ARTISTRY
Concept & Direction: Jeannie Im
Piano & Musical Direction: Dan Franklin Smith
with: Kristina Eckelhoff, Melissa Primavera, Bruce Rameker, and Alexis Rodda
Marta Eggerth, the legendary star of opera, operetta, stage and film, served as Honorary Artistic Director of Elysium until her death at the age of 101 in December of last year. Many of the 20th century’s most famous composers, including Franz Lehár, Emmerich Kálmán, Robert Stolz, Paul Abraham, and Richard Heuberger composed works especially for her. The concert features famous tunes from Lehárs “The Merry Widow”, Abrahams “Ball im Savoy, Heuberger’s “Opernball” and Stolz’s “Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume”.
Participants of Elysium’s Academy Program will interpret some of those eminent melodies.
Born in 1912 in Budapest / Hungary, Marta Eggerth was often referred to as “the last of the Mohicans” as she was truly one of the last survivors of what is today often called “The Silver Age of Operetta”. At age 17, she performed the role of Adele in Max Reinhardt’s 1929 production of “Die Fledermaus. During the early 1930s she was discovered by the film industry. On the set of the 1934 film “My Heart is Calling You” she met the young Polish tenor, Jan Kiepura. They were married in 1936 and became known as Europe’s Love Couple causing a sensation wherever they appeared. In 1938, following the “Anschluss” they both emigrated from Vienna to the United States. Together they starred on stages throughout America until Kiepura’s premature death in 1966. Over the past few years, Marta Eggerth was decorated with many artistic awards from Austria, Germany, Poland, and Italy for her long association and achievements in operetta, theater and film. In 2007, Gregorij H. von Leitis, Artistic Director of Elysium, presented the first Erwin Piscator Lifetime Achievement Award to Marta Eggerth. On the evening of December 26, Marta Eggerth peacefully passed away.
PRESENTED BY
The Lahr von Leitis Academy & Archive
Art and education without borders.
Education and knowledge as efficient tools to fight against ignorance, discrimination and hatred.
Familiarizing the young generation with the treasures of exiled art, to help them create a meaningful future that incorporates the lessons learned from history.
Elysium – between two continents
Fostering artistic and academic dialogue, creative and intellectual exchange and mutual friendship between the United States of America and Europe.
Fighting against discrimination, racism, and anti-Semitism by means of art.
VENUE
ACFNY