Ilka Pálmay

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Ilka Pálmay as Julia Jellicoe, an English Comedienne, in The Grand Duke 1896.
Ilka Pálmay as Julia Jellicoe, an English Comedienne, in The Grand Duke 1896.

Ilka Pálmay (often erroneously written Ilka von Pálmay) (September 21, 1859 – February 17, 1945), born Ilona Petráss, was a Hungarian-born singer and actress.

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[edit] Life and career

Pálmay was born in Ungvar, Ung Megye, Hungary. She was married twice, first to actor-manager József Szigligeti (from 1877 to 1886), and then to Austrian Count Eugen Kinsky in the early 1890s.

[edit] Early career

Pálmay began her stage career in Hungary (including Košice, Budapest and Klausenburg) and Vienna by 1880. In the early 1890s, she performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, where she created leading roles in Carl Zeller's Der Vogelhändler (1891) and Johann Strauss II's Fürstin Ninetta (1893). Soon, she was playing in Prague and the Unter den Linden Theater in Berlin. There, in 1893, she was scheduled to appear in a German production of The Mikado in drag as the tenor hero, Nanki-Poo, and Sullivan took action to try to prohibit her from appearing in the role. It later surprised Pálmay to learn that no woman had ever appeared on the stage of the Savoy Theatre dressed as a man. In 1893, also, she played Serpolette in Les Cloches de Corneville [1]

Ilka Palmay as Julia Jellicoe
Ilka Palmay as Julia Jellicoe

She later played the title role in La belle Hélène (Offenbach); Fiametta in Boccaccio (von Suppé); Denise in Mam'zelle Nitouche (Hervé; Nebántsvirág in Hungarian); Yvonne in The Pirate King (Planquette); Yum-Yum in The Mikado (Sullivan); the title role in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (Offenbach); Lisbeth in Rip Van Winkle (Planquette); and Bronislawa in A koldusdiák – The Beggar Student (Karl Millöcker).

In June 1895, she made her first appearance on the London stage as a guest artist with the Ducal Court Company of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha as Christel in five performances of Der Vogelhändler at the Drury Lane Theatre. W. S. Gilbert saw her there and hired her to play Julia Jellicoe in The Grand Duke, a role which he expanded considerably and tailored to suit her comic talents. Pálmay earned very favourable notices from the critics.[2]

Pálmay had signed a two-year contract with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, but The Grand Duke ran for only four months in 1896. After it closed, she created the role of Felice in His Majesty at the Savoy in the spring of 1897. His Majesty gave Pálmay opportunities to display her talents as ballad singer, opera soprano, and comedienne, including the chance to sing in German, the language in which she usually performed. The song, "Das Kleine Fraülein Müffchen," is a German version of "Little Miss Muffet". Pitting the weak-voiced George Grossmith against the histrionic Pálmay may have speeded his departure from the production after only four performances.[3] Pálmay next appeared as Elsie in the revival of The Yeomen of the Guard in the summer of 1897. She left the D'Oyly Carte organisation in July 1897 and returned home.

[edit] Later years

In 1898-99 Pálmay appeared in Vienna, but most of her career was spent in Budapest. She also appeared briefly in German-language theatre in New York in 1905, but soon returned to Hungary. In 1911, she won the national Hungarian theatre's honorary prize. Pálmay played many roles from opera and operetta during her long career, as noted below. She retired from the stage in 1928.

Pálmay recorded two songs in Vienna in 1900 and several in Budapest in 1903. The Budapest songs included one in English, "Butterfly," a folk song. She also recorded "Madrigal" from Ninoche and "A Little Bit of String" from The Circus Girl. All of these can be heard on The Art of the Savoyard (Pearl GEMM CD 9991).

Writing as Countess Kinsky, Pálmay eventually published her memoirs in the Hungarian language. They were translated into German and published in Berlin in 1911 as Meine Erinnerungen (My Memories). A chapter of the book is devoted to her days at the Savoy. That chapter was translated into English by Andrew Lamb and appears in the May and September 1972 issues of The Gilbert & Sullivan Journal. In her book, she mentions D'Oyly Carte plans for a musical version of Victorien Sardou's Madame Sans-Gêne for the 1897-98 season, but those plans never came to fruition.

Pálmay died in Budapest at the age of 85.

[edit] Roles

as Yum-Yum in German Mikado
as Yum-Yum in German Mikado
Ilka Palmay as Serpolette in an 1893 production
Ilka Palmay as Serpolette in an 1893 production

[edit] Bibliography

In English:

  • Theatre Notebook - A Journal of the History and Technique of the British Theatre, 1945.
  • Anon: The Romance of a Famous Theatre / The Old Savoy and The New - London, Curwen Press, 1930.
  • W. S. Gilbert: The Savoy Operas - London, Macmillan Co., Ltd., 1926; 4th reprint 1935.
  • Ayre, Leslie (1972). The Gilbert & Sullivan Companion. London: W.H. Allen & Co Ltd.  Introduction by Martyn Green.
  • Stedman, Jane W. (1996). W. S. Gilbert, A Classic Victorian & His Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-816174-3. 
  • Wolfson, John (1976). Final curtain: The last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Chappell in association with A. Deutsch.  ISBN 0903443120

In German:

  • Honegger Marc – Marsenkeil Günther: Das große Lexikon der Musik, 1-8 – (The Large Encyclopedia of Music, 1–8), Freiburg, 1976-1983.
  • Lexikon der Frau, 1-2 – Zürich (Women Encyclopedia, 1-2 – Zurich), 1953.
  • Das Jahrbuch der Wiener Gesellschaft. Beiträge zur Wiener Zeitgeschichte - Wien (The Yearbook of the Viennese Society. Contributions to Viennese Contemporary History – Vienna), 1929
  • Biographisches Lexikon des Kaisertums Österreich. 1–60 – Wien (Biographic Encyclopedia of Kaiser’s Austria. 1–60 – Vienna), 1856-1891.

In Hungarian:

  • Magyar Színházművészeti Lexikon – Akadémiai Kiadó, (Hungarian Theatre Lexicon, Academic Edition), Budapest, 1994.
  • Gyula Krúdy: Primadonna – Regényes történet Pálmay Ilkáról, aki meghódította a világot. - Móra Könyvkiadó (Primadonna – About Ilka Pálmay and her world. Móra Publications), Budapest, 1988.
  • Magyar Életrajzi Lexikon 1-3. Budapest, 1981–1982.: Színészmúzeum / Pálmay Ilka – Magyar Színházi Intézet, (Hungarian Biography: Theatre Museum / Ilka Pálmay – Hungarian Theatrical Institute) Budapest, 1981–1982.
  • Hont-Staud: Színházi kislexikon – Gondolat Kiadó (Concise Theatrical Lexicon – Gondolat Edition) , Budapest, 1969.
  • Dr. Dezső Bánóczi: Rendezte dr. Bánóczi Dezső – Szerzői magánkiadás, (Staging by Dr Dezső Bánóczi – Copyright Private Issue) Budapest, 1943.
  • Dr. Antal Németh: Színészeti lexikon – Győző Andor kiadása (Theatrical Lexicon – Győző Andor’s issue), Budapest, 1930.
  • Révai mickle lexicon / Pálmay Ilka (Révai’s Large Lexicon / Pálmay Ilka – Révai’s issue), Budapest , 1911–1927.
  • Kálmán Porzsolt: Blaha Lujza emlékalbum (Blaha Lujza’s Memorial Album) – Budapest, 1926.
  • György Verő: A Népszínház Budapest színi életében (Budapest People’s Theatre – The Colours of Its Life) – Budapest, 1926.
  • Gróf Kinskyné Ilka Pálmay: Emlékirataim – Singer és Wolfner Kiadó (Countess Kinsky, Ilka Pálmay: My Memoirs), Budapest, 1912
  • Sándor Bródy: Színésznők (Actresses) – Budapest, 1905.
  • Mihály Báthory-Románcsik: Magyar színészek és színésznők életrajzai (Hungarian actors and actresses) – Kassa, 1883.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Photo of Pálmay as Serpolette (the name of the operetta in the caption is mislabeled as Rip Van Winkle, in which she played Lisbeth).
  2. ^ Reviews of Pálmay in The Grand Duke
  3. ^ Introduction to His Majesty.

[edit] External links