Max Hansen (tenor)
Encyclopedia
Max Hansen was a Danish
singer known as 'The Little Caruso', also a cabaret artist
, actor
and comedian
.
, Imperial Germany as an illegitimate child to the Danish
actress Eva Haller and a Jewish father, by other sources a Swedish Officer Schürer von Waldheim. He grew up with foster-parents at Munich
, where he first appeared at the Cabaret Simplizissimus at the age of 17. In 1914 he moved to Vienna
and appeared in several smaller theatres as a singer and comedian.
In 1924, Hansen created the tenor role of Baron Kolomán Zsupán in Gräfin Mariza at Hubert Marischka
's Theater an der Wien
in Vienna. This production moved to the Metropoltheater in Berlin
after 900 performances. In Berlin he founded the Kabarett der Komiker with Paul Morgan and Kurt Robitschek. Hansen was engaged by Max Reinhardt
for his revival of Offenbach
's La belle Hélène
and by Erik Charell
for his production of Lehar's The Merry Widow
. Hansen's greatest stage success was in creating the role of Leopold the waiter in Ralph Benatzky
's operetta-musical The White Horse Inn
, a part he also undertook in Richard Oswald
's 1926 silent movie.
In 1932, Hansen satirised Adolf Hitler
as homosexual with his song "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?" ("Have you ever been in love with me?"), which caused the bitter hate of the Nazis. In contrast, he also parodied the opera and operetta soprano
Gitta Alpár
(in drag) in a film recording dating from the same year. He returned to Vienna in 1933 and worked again at the Theater an der Wien. In 1936 he met Zarah Leander
on a Scandinavia
n tour and engaged her as his stage partner at Vienna. After Austria was invaded by Germany in 1938, Hansen emigrated to Denmark, where he founded his own theater at Copenhagen
.
In 1951 he returned to Germany and was successful once again singing the role of Leopold the waiter (The White Horse Inn
) in Hamburg
and at Berlin
's Theater am Nollendorfplatz. In 1953 Hansen moved back to Copenhagen, where he died in 1961.
Hansen was married to Austrian actress Lizzi Waldmüller and after 1939 to Britta Hansen. He had four children. His son Max Hansen Jr., born in 1954, is also an actor.
In 2004 the German director Douglas Wolfsperger portrayed Hansen in his documentary "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?"
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
singer known as 'The Little Caruso', also a cabaret artist
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
.
Biography
Hansen was born Max Josef Haller in MannheimMannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Imperial Germany as an illegitimate child to the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
actress Eva Haller and a Jewish father, by other sources a Swedish Officer Schürer von Waldheim. He grew up with foster-parents at Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he first appeared at the Cabaret Simplizissimus at the age of 17. In 1914 he moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and appeared in several smaller theatres as a singer and comedian.
In 1924, Hansen created the tenor role of Baron Kolomán Zsupán in Gräfin Mariza at Hubert Marischka
Hubert Marischka
Hubert Marischka , brother of Ernst Marischka, was an Austrian operetta tenor, actor, film director and screenwriter.- Career :...
's Theater an der Wien
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
in Vienna. This production moved to the Metropoltheater in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
after 900 performances. In Berlin he founded the Kabarett der Komiker with Paul Morgan and Kurt Robitschek. Hansen was engaged by Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
for his revival of Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène
La belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
and by Erik Charell
Erik Charell
Erich Karl Löwenberg , later known as Erik Charell, was a German actor and director. He was best known as a director of musical revues and operettas, especially at Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin...
for his production of Lehar's The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
. Hansen's greatest stage success was in creating the role of Leopold the waiter in Ralph Benatzky
Ralph Benatzky
Ralph Benatzky , Moravia, Austrian Empire – 16 October 1957), born in Moravské Budějovice as Rudolf Josef František Benatzki, was an Austrian composer of Czech origin...
's operetta-musical The White Horse Inn
The White Horse Inn
Im weißen Rößl is an operetta or musical comedy set in the picturesque Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria. It is about the head waiter of the White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang who is desperately in love with the owner of the inn, a resolute young woman who at first only has eyes for one of her...
, a part he also undertook in Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald
Richard Oswald was an Austrian director, producer, and screenwriter.Richard Oswald, born in Vienna as Richard W. Ornstein, began his career as an actor on the Viennese stage. He made his film directorial debut at age 34 with Das Eiserne Kreuz...
's 1926 silent movie.
In 1932, Hansen satirised Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
as homosexual with his song "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?" ("Have you ever been in love with me?"), which caused the bitter hate of the Nazis. In contrast, he also parodied the opera and operetta 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...
Gitta Alpár
Gitta Alpár
Gitta Alpár , 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...
(in drag) in a film recording dating from the same year. He returned to Vienna in 1933 and worked again at the Theater an der Wien. In 1936 he met Zarah Leander
Zarah Leander
Zarah Leander was a Swedish actress and singer.Leander began her career in the late 1920s, and by the mid 1930s her success in Europe, particularly in Germany and the Scandinavian countries, led to invitations to work in the United States...
on a Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n tour and engaged her as his stage partner at Vienna. After Austria was invaded by Germany in 1938, Hansen emigrated to Denmark, where he founded his own theater at Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
.
In 1951 he returned to Germany and was successful once again singing the role of Leopold the waiter (The White Horse Inn
The White Horse Inn
Im weißen Rößl is an operetta or musical comedy set in the picturesque Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria. It is about the head waiter of the White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang who is desperately in love with the owner of the inn, a resolute young woman who at first only has eyes for one of her...
) in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and at Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
's Theater am Nollendorfplatz. In 1953 Hansen moved back to Copenhagen, where he died in 1961.
Hansen was married to Austrian actress Lizzi Waldmüller and after 1939 to Britta Hansen. He had four children. His son Max Hansen Jr., born in 1954, is also an actor.
In 2004 the German director Douglas Wolfsperger portrayed Hansen in his documentary "War'n Sie schon mal in mich verliebt?"
Popular songs and arias associated with Max Hansen
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The White Horse Inn Im weißen Rößl is an operetta or musical comedy set in the picturesque Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria. It is about the head waiter of the White Horse Inn in St. Wolfgang who is desperately in love with the owner of the inn, a resolute young woman who at first only has eyes for one of her... ) |
Filmography
|
Das häßliche Mädchen Das häßliche Mädchen is a German comedy film made in early 1933, during the transition from the Weimar Republic to Nazi Germany, and premièred in September that year... Hvad vil De ha'? Hvad vil De ha'? is a 1956 Danish comedy film directed by Jens Henriksen and Preben Neergaard and starring Dirch Passer.-Cast:* Asbjørn Andersen - Filmproducenten* Boyd Bachmann - Himself* Paul Hagen - Soldaten* Hans Kurt - Vagabonden... |