Erzsébet Házy
Encyclopedia
Erzsébet Házy was a Hungarian
opera
tic soprano
. She fascinated the critics (see 'Critics' below) and audience not only with her voice but also with perfect acting and her beauty. She was particularly admired for her portrayal of the title heroine in Giacomo Puccini
’s Manon Lescaut
.
, Slovakia
to Hungarian parents, Házy grew up in her parent's native country and was a Hungarian citizen. She studied singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
with Géza László. She began her career as a member of the Hungarian Radio Choir before making her professional opera debut in 1951 as Oscar in Giuseppe Verdi
's Un ballo in maschera
at the Hungarian State Opera House
. She remained committed to that house for many years where she excelled in soubrette
and coloratura soprano
roles. She notably appeared in several world premieres at that house, including Sándor Szokolay
's Hamlet (1968), Szokolay's Samson (1973), and György Ránki
's Az ember tragédiája (1970, "The Tragedy of Man").
Házy also worked regularly as a performer in operetta
s at the Vienna Volksoper
for many years. As a guest artist she made appearances at the Prague State Opera
, Sofia National Opera
, the Romanian National Opera
, the Great Theatre, Warsaw, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Finnish National Opera
, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
, Oper Köln, the Komische Oper Berlin
, the Sydney Opera House
, and the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden.
Házy was awarded the Franz Liszt Prize in 1963, was appointed a Meritorious Artist
in 1968, and in 1970 she received the Kossuth Prize
by the People's Republic of Hungary
. She died in Budapest
, Hungary at the age of 53.
(Musicologist Peter Varnai)
Der Zigeunerbaron, Label: RCA Red S. (Sony Music)
Gräfin Mariza, Philips
Other CDs:
Erzsébet Házy: Soprano Arias; Hungaroton HCD31996
Puccini: Manon Lescaut
(Sung in Hungarian); HCD12648-49
Abraham, P.: Operettas; HCD16886
Kálmán: A csárdás királynő (Die Csárdásfürstin
) (excerpts) HCD 16780
Kálmán, Lehár: Operettrészletek (Operetta Excerpts) HCD 16847
Lehár: Arany és ezüst - Gold and Silver
(The Land of Smiles, Giuditta)
(excerpts) HCD 16809
Kálmán: Cirkuszhercegnő/Cigányprímás (Die Zirkusprinzessin
/Der Zigeunerprimas
(excerpts) HCD 16876
Lehár: Luxemburg grófja / Der Graf von Luxemburg (excerpts)Cigányszerelem / Der Zigeunerliebe (excerpts) HCD 16877
Zeller, C.: Vogelhandler (Der) / Millöcker, K.: Gräfin Dubarry; HCD16583
Szokolay: Vernász (Blood Wedding); HCD11262-63
Simándy, József
- Operetta excerpts HCD 16880
Ilosfalvy, Róbert: Tenor Opera Arias; HCD31762
Bizet: Carmen (excerpts) (Sung in Hungarian); HCD32026
Fifty Years of Hungaroton Singers (1951–2001) HCD 32096-98
Der Zigeunerbaron (1965, Szaffi) with Rudolf Schock
, Eberhard Wächter; (in the archive of WDR)
Gräfin Mariza (1973, Mariza) with René Kollo
; (Unitel, in the archive of ZDF)
Budapester Nächte (1973), Musikalische Impressionen einer Stadt; (ZDF’s archive)
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
. She fascinated the critics (see 'Critics' below) and audience not only with her voice but also with perfect acting and her beauty. She was particularly admired for her portrayal of the title heroine in Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Puccini
Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire...
’s Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...
.
Biography
Born in BratislavaBratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
to Hungarian parents, Házy grew up in her parent's native country and was a Hungarian citizen. She studied singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music
Franz Liszt Academy of Music
The Franz Liszt Academy of Music is a concert hall and music conservatory in Budapest, Hungary, founded on November 14, 1875...
with Géza László. She began her career as a member of the Hungarian Radio Choir before making her professional opera debut in 1951 as Oscar in Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera
Un ballo in maschera , is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi with text by Antonio Somma. The libretto is loosely based on an 1833 play, Gustave III, by French playwright Eugène Scribe who wrote about the historical assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden...
at the Hungarian State Opera House
Hungarian State Opera House
The Hungarian State Opera House is a neo-Renaissance opera house located in central Budapest, on Andrássy út. It is home to the Budapest Opera Ball, a society event dating back to 1886.-History:...
. She remained committed to that house for many years where she excelled in soubrette
Soubrette
A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".-Theater:...
and coloratura soprano
Coloratura soprano
A coloratura soprano is a type of operatic soprano who specializes in music that is distinguished by agile runs and leaps. The term coloratura refers to the elaborate ornamentation of a melody, which is a typical component of the music written for this voice...
roles. She notably appeared in several world premieres at that house, including Sándor Szokolay
Sándor Szokolay
Sándor Szokolay is a Hungarian composer and a professor of the Liszt Ferenc Academy, Budapest.-Life:Szokolay began his music studies in Békéstarhos. Then he attended the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest. His teachers were Ferenc Szabó and Ferenc Farkas. Between 1957 and 1961 he worked at...
's Hamlet (1968), Szokolay's Samson (1973), and György Ránki
György Ránki
György Ránki was a Hungarian composer.-Life:Born in Budapest, he studied composition with Zoltán Kodály at the Budapest Academy of Music from 1926-1930...
's Az ember tragédiája (1970, "The Tragedy of Man").
Házy also worked regularly as a performer in operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s at the Vienna Volksoper
Vienna Volksoper
The Vienna Volksoper is a major opera house in Vienna, Austria. It gives about three hundred performances of twenty-five productions during an annual season running from September through June....
for many years. As a guest artist she made appearances at the Prague State Opera
Prague State Opera
The Prague State Opera , is an opera and ballet company in Prague, Czech Republic. The theatre was originally founded in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre....
, Sofia National Opera
National Opera and Ballet
The National Opera and Ballet is a national cultural institution in Bulgaria that covers opera and ballet. It is based in an imposing building in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria....
, the Romanian National Opera
Romanian National Opera
The Romanian National Opera is one of the national opera companies of Romania, situated in a historical building in Bucharest, near the Cotroceni neighbourhood....
, the Great Theatre, Warsaw, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Finnish National Opera
Finnish National Opera
The Finnish National Opera in Helsinki is the leading opera company in Finland. Its home base is the Opera House on Töölönlahti bay in Töölö which opened in 1993, and is state-owned through Senate Properties...
, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Teatro Comunale di Bologna
The Teatro Comunale di Bologna is an opera house in Bologna, Italy, and is one of the most important opera venues in Italy. Typically, it presents eight operas with six performances during its November to April season....
, Oper Köln, the Komische Oper Berlin
Komische Oper Berlin
The Komische Oper Berlin is an opera company in Berlin, Germany, which specializes in German language productions of opera, operetta and musicals....
, the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
, and the Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden.
Házy was awarded the Franz Liszt Prize in 1963, was appointed a Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist
Meritorious Artist , also translated as Merited Artist, Deserved Artist or Distinguished Artist or Honorary Artist or Honorable Actor) is an honorary title in the Soviet Union, Russian Federation, Union republics, and Autonomous republics, also in some other Eastern bloc states, as well as in a...
in 1968, and in 1970 she received the Kossuth Prize
Kossuth Prize
The Kossuth Prize is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionary Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and group achievements in the fields of...
by the People's Republic of Hungary
People's Republic of Hungary
The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communist period under the guidance of the Soviet Union. The state remained in existence until 1989 when opposition forces consolidated in forcing the regime to...
. She died in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary at the age of 53.
Critics
"When she stepped on the podium, she enthused the atmosphere with her soul. She was the type of artist who carried a unique aura. This was the main secret of her success at home and abroad. She had that almost indefinable ability by which a great actress or a singer-personality does not live her part, rather she becomes the personification of it."(Musicologist Peter Varnai)
Recordings
German CDs:Der Zigeunerbaron, Label: RCA Red S. (Sony Music)
Gräfin Mariza, Philips
Other CDs:
Erzsébet Házy: Soprano Arias; Hungaroton HCD31996
Puccini: Manon Lescaut
Manon Lescaut (Puccini)
Manon Lescaut is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini. The story is based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost....
(Sung in Hungarian); HCD12648-49
Abraham, P.: Operettas; HCD16886
Kálmán: A csárdás királynő (Die Csárdásfürstin
Die Csárdásfürstin
Die Csárdásfürstin or A Csárdáskirálynő is an operetta in 3 acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kalman, libretto by Leo Stein and B. Jenbach. It premiered in Vienna at the Johann Strauss Theater, 17 November 1915. Numerous film versions and recordings have been made...
) (excerpts) HCD 16780
Kálmán, Lehár: Operettrészletek (Operetta Excerpts) HCD 16847
Lehár: Arany és ezüst - Gold and Silver
(The Land of Smiles, Giuditta)
(excerpts) HCD 16809
Kálmán: Cirkuszhercegnő/Cigányprímás (Die Zirkusprinzessin
Die Zirkusprinzessin
Die Zirkusprinzessin is an operetta in three acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán to a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 26 March 1926 and went on to 344 performances there.The plot revolves around a romantic intrigue...
/Der Zigeunerprimas
Der Zigeunerprimas
Der Zigeunerprimas is a three act operetta, which was composed by Emmerich Kálmán. The libretto was written by Julius Wilhelm and Fritz Grünbaum...
(excerpts) HCD 16876
Lehár: Luxemburg grófja / Der Graf von Luxemburg (excerpts)Cigányszerelem / Der Zigeunerliebe (excerpts) HCD 16877
Zeller, C.: Vogelhandler (Der) / Millöcker, K.: Gräfin Dubarry; HCD16583
Szokolay: Vernász (Blood Wedding); HCD11262-63
Simándy, József
József Simándy
József Simándy was a Hungarian tenor. A student of Emilia Posszert, he joined the chorus of the Hungarian State Opera in 1940; in 1946 he made his debut as Don José in Carmen in Szeged. In 1947 he returned to the Budapest Opera, where he was the leading heroic tenor until 1984...
- Operetta excerpts HCD 16880
Ilosfalvy, Róbert: Tenor Opera Arias; HCD31762
Bizet: Carmen (excerpts) (Sung in Hungarian); HCD32026
Fifty Years of Hungaroton Singers (1951–2001) HCD 32096-98
Filmography
German operetta films with Erzsébet Házy:Der Zigeunerbaron (1965, Szaffi) with Rudolf Schock
Rudolf Schock
Rudolf Johann Schock was a German tenor.He sang a wide repertory from operetta to Lohengrin, recording among others opera and lieder, doing television, radio and film work. Slim and handsome, he made many films.His voice fell almost into the heldentenor fach but was smaller and more...
, Eberhard Wächter; (in the archive of WDR)
Gräfin Mariza (1973, Mariza) with René Kollo
René Kollo
René Kollo is a German tenor.-Biography:He was born René Kollodzieyski in Berlin and grew up in Wyk auf Föhr. He attended a photography school in Hamburg, although he had always been interested in music, particularly conducting. He did not begin to perform until the mid-50s...
; (Unitel, in the archive of ZDF)
Budapester Nächte (1973), Musikalische Impressionen einer Stadt; (ZDF’s archive)