Gitta Alpár
Gitta Alpár (5 February 1903 – 17 February 1991), was a Hungarian-born opera and operetta soprano.
Gitta Alpár was born in Budapest as Klopfer Regina. At an early age, she commenced the study of singing and pianoforte at the Academy of Budapest. Her first public appearance was at age eighteen at the Budapest State Opera House which led to a long contract and her singing all over the world. In 1931, Alpár married actor Gustav Fröhlich, with whom she had a child, Julika. Her first films were made in Germany. The marriage was dissolved in 1935 because Alpár was Jewish and the marriage was illegal in Nazi Germany. Alpár appeared on "Hitler's hit list", along with Charlie Chaplin and others, in the pages of the anti-semitic book, Juden sehen Dich an by Johann von Leers.
Alpár left Germany in 1933, first for Austria (where the film version of Ball im Savoy was made) and Hungary, then England and eventually the United States, where she continued her singing and film career. She died in Los Angeles, California, and was buried in the Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles.[1]
Roles created
- 1930: Princess Elisabeth in Schön is die Welt, a reworking of Endlich allein by Franz Lehár
- 1931: Comtesse Dubarry in the revised version of Gräfin Dubarry by Millöcker
- 1932: Madeleine de Faublas in the operetta Ball im Savoy by Paul Abraham
Recordings
- Lebendige Vergangenheit – Gitta Alpár: includes arias and excerpts by Félicien-César David, Delibes, Eva Dell'Acqua, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Meyerbeer, Mozart, Offenbach, Puccini, Rossini, and Verdi (1996, Preiser Records 1083891)
Films
- 1932 – Gitta entdeckt ihr Herz
- 1932 – Die – oder keine
- 1934 – Ball im Savoy (film version of the operetta by Paul Abraham)
- 1935 – I Give My Heart (The Dubarry)
- 1935 – Le disque 413/Disk 413
- 1936 – Guilty Melody
- 1936 – Everything in Life
- 1937 – Mr. Stringfellow Says No
- 1938 – The Loves of Madame Dubarry
- 1941 – The Flame of New Orleans
See also
- Alpár – Hungarian surname
References
External links
- Gitta Alpár at the Internet Movie Database
- Gitta Alpár at AllMovie
- http://www.univie.ac.at/biografiA/daten/text/bio/alpar.htm (German)
- http://www.cyranos.ch/smalpa-e.htm (English)
- Photographs of Gitta Alpár
- Bell Song Lakme – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JjXtOieObA