Káimán, Emmerich (actually, Imre)

Káimán, Emmerich(actually, Imre), remarkable Hungarian composer; b. Siófolk, Oct. 24, 1882; d. Paris, Oct. 30, 1953. He went to Budapest, where he studied law at the Univ. and theory and composition with Koessler at the Royal Academy of Music. From 1904 to 1908 he was a répétiteur at the Vigszinhâs, and also wrote music criticism. Although he attracted notice as a composer with his symphonic poem Saturnalia (1904) and a song cycle, which was awarded the Franz-Josef Prize (1907), he soon concentrated his activities on the musical theater. His first operetta, Tatárjáms (The Happy Hussars; Feb. 22, 1908), was so successful that it was subsequently performed throughout Europe and eventually made its way to N.Y. His next score, Az obsitos (March 16, 1910), assured his reputation when it was subsequently staged in Vienna as Der gute Kamerad (Oct. 10, 1911; rev. version as Gold gab ich für Eisen, Oct. 16, 1914). Its unqualified success led Kaiman to settle in Vienna, where he brought out the highly successful Der Zigeunerprimas (Oct. 11, 1912), which subsequently triumphed on various European stages and as Sari on Broadway. After producing The Blue House (London, Oct. 28, 1912), Der kleine König (Vienna, Nov. 27, 1912), and Kivandorlók (Budapest, Sept. 26, 1913), Kaiman had a notable success with Zsuzsi kisasszony (Budapest, Feb. 23, 1915), which later became a Broadway favorite as Miss Springtime. With Vienna again the center of his activities, he scored a triumph with his Die Csardasfürstin (Nov. 17, 1915), which ran for almost 600 performances and became a beloved repertoire piece. The success of Die Faschingsfee (Sept. 21, 1917) was followed by the popular Das Hollandweibchen (Jan. 31, 1920). Káimán then composed 2 outstanding scores, Die Bajadere (Dec. 23, 1921) and Gräfin Mariza (Feb. 28, 1924), which were heard throughout Europe to great acclaim. The latter was so successful that it also became a repertoire work. After further success with Die Zirkusprinzessin (March 26, 1926), Kaiman attempted to transfer his golden touch to Broadway with Golden Dawn (Nov. 30, 1927) but without success. Back in Vienna, success was his again with Die Herzogin von Chicago (April 5, 1928), although Das Veilchen vom Montmartre (March 21, 1930) and Der Teufelsreiter (March 10, 1932) elicited little interest. He also wrote the film score for Ronny (1931). After composing Kaiserin Josephine (Zürich, Jan. 18, 1936), the ominous clouds of Nazism led Kaiman to go to Paris in 1939. In 1940 he emigrated to the U.S. and in 1942 became a naturalized American citizen. During his American sojourn, he had some success with the musical Marinka (N.Y., July 18, 1945). With World War II over, Kaiman returned to Europe. His last stage work, Arizona Lady, was premiered posthumously in Bern on Feb. 14, 1954.

Bibliography

J. Bistron, E. K. (Vienna, 1932); R. Oesterreicher, £. K.: Der Weg eines Komponisten (Vienna, 1954); V. Kaiman, Gruss’ mir die süssen, die reizenden Frauen: Mein Leben mit E. K. (Bayreuth, 1966); R. Oesterreicher, E. K.: Das Leben eines Operettenfürsten (Vienna, 1988).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire