#Bella Paalen

[opera-ghosts]

Bella Paalen as Fricka; Vienna, 1919

Bella Paalen was born as Isabella (Izabella) Pollak in Pásztó, Komitat Nógrád, in Austro-Hungarian Hungary on December 9, 1881. She was the oldest of the three children of a Jewish couple – Laura Pollak neé Jamnitz, and Ernst Pollak. Ernst was initially a factory director, and later a representative for commercial trade agencies. The Pollaks lived in the Austro-Hungarian capital and Imperial Residence city of Vienna.

Isabella Pollak studied voice at the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music. Her voice teacher was a prominent interpreter of Richard Wagner’s operas: Rosa Papier. Her son Bernhard Paumgartner became head of the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

In the autumn of 1905, Isabella Pollak, whose stage name was Bella Paalen, was employed as an alto (alto voice) in Graz. In its 1905/06 season the Graz Opera House was able to achieve brilliant successes under its artistic director Alfred Cavarn.

A sensational highlight was the Austrian premiere of the opera Salome by Richard Strauss in the presence of the director of the Vienna Court Opera Gustav Mahler. Mahler had been unable to produce it himself because of censorship by the Viennese court.

In Graz, the Vienna Court Opera singer Jenny Korb, a soprano, sang the title role of »Salome«. Bella PAALEN was heard in the small alto part of »The Page of Herodias«.

On December 3, 1906, Bella Paalen sang the alto solo in Gustav Mahler’s 3rd Symphony for the first time in the Graz Opera House: an orchestral concert conducted by the composer himself. Gustav Mahler was so impressed by Bella PAALEN that he engaged the 25-year-old contralto at the Vienna Court Opera on September 1, 1907.

Bella Paalen was part of the ensemble of the Vienna Court (and later Vienna State) Opera for three decades. She sang the alto parts »Fricka«, »Erda«, »Grimgerde« and »Norn« in The Ring of the Nibelung opera cycle, »Magdalena« in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, »Brangäne« in Tristan and Isolde and »Ortrud« in Lohengrin – all by Richard Wagner, as well as »Klytämnestra« in Elektra and »Annina« in Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss along with other roles, mostly small alto parts.

»Annina« was Bella Paalen’s star role at the Court/State Opera: 173 performances between 1911 and 1937. The famous bass singer Richard Mayr also shone in Der Rosenkavalier as »Ochs von Lerchenau«.

Mayr’s birthplace, Salzburg, has a memorial for this. What has been forgotten, however, is that Bella PAALEN was part of the Mayr family’s circle of friends.

After the end of WWI, in 1919, Bella Paalen made her first summer vacation in the Salzburg spa Hofgastein. She was one of the prominent spa guests who participated in charity events and gave recitals every now and then. Bernhard Paumgartner, the son of her singing teacher Rosa Papier, had been director of the Mozarteum in Salzburg since 1917 and he acted as her piano accompanist on one occasion.

In 1920 Bella Paalen’s parents, Ernst and Laura Pollak bought house no. 34 in Hofgastein, called the »Haidenhäusl«. Her parents both died in 1935. Her father first, then soon afterwards her mother during a performance of the opera Lohengrin at the Vienna State Opera, which caused a sensation because Bella PAALEN broke off her performance as »Ortrud« when she learned about her death:… Miss Bella Paalen’s mother, who was well into her seventies, has always been the most attentive fan of her daughter, who is not only one of the most popular members of the [opera company], but also the one who has been here for the longest, namely since 1907. The elderly Frau Paalen wasn’t only nervous, she suffered from a serious heart condition that had made her daughter very anxious when the old lady attended the opera … Kleine Volks-Zeitung, May 19, 1935

Bella Paalen inherited her parents’ house in Hofgastein. Her younger brother, the artist Benedict Fred Dolbin, emigrated to the USA in October 1935. Her youngest brother Otto Friedrich Pollak had died in the First World War as a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian army.

It has been said that Bella Paalen was honored with the title »Austrian Chamber Singer« in 1933, but that isn’t correct. In fact she only received the title in September 1937 when she was 56 years old and already »retired«.

Bella Paalen was 52 years old when she first appeared in a small alto role at the Salzburg Festival in 1934: as »First Maid« in the opera Elektra. In the 1936 summer festival she had the small role as »Manuela« (the maid of Juan Lopez) in the Hugo Wolf opera Der Corregidor.

The festival audience was able to see and hear Bella Paalen again in the summer of 1937, lastly on August 22nd, as »First Maid« in the opera Elektra – with only a few appearances that hardly received any attention in the reviews.

Bella Paalen made her last glamorous appearance at the Vienna State Opera as »Marthe« in Charles Gounod’s opera Margarethe on July 6, 1937. Irene Harand’s philosemitic magazine Gerechtigkeit [Justice] reported:… The last two performances of the current opera year took place in front of a sold out house; this extraordinary public interest was not only aroused by the guest performances of Elisabeth Rethberg and Ezio Pinza, but also in the farewell to an artist whose whole life and all her strength were dedicated to our company for thirty years … The drastic Marthe was Bella Paalen, to whom the audience gave a roaring farewell with frenetic applause; and when she bowed for the last time, it was certainly not only she who had tears in her eye. Ks. Gerechtigkeit, July 15, 1937

What went unmentioned, however, was that Bella PAALEN, who had retired, was Jewish and had not converted to Christianity to further her career. Not coincidentally the reasons why she had been honored only so late in her career remained obscure:Bella Paalen, who retired at the end of the previous season, was awarded the title of Austrian Chamber Singer. Even if this honor came a little late, it will please everyone who is indebted to the artist for great experiences over countless years. Ks. Gerechtigkeit, September 16, 1937

Despite her retirement, the artist was unable to quit her thirty year career so quickly. In the annals of the Vienna State Opera it is recorded that Bella Paalen had two more appearances: as »Palmatica, Countess Nowalska« in Millöcker’s Bettelstudent on October 11, 1937 and as »Filipjewna« in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin on March 11, 1938.

Bella Paalen, who lived in the 1st district, probably left National Socialist Vienna only after the »Reichskristallnacht« pogroms of November 1938. At least it is on record that the 57 year old singer arrived in New York as a »Hebrew« on the transatlantic liner Hansa on January 13, 1939.

Bella Paalen didn’t have any engagements as a singer after her arrival in New York. She was however very successful as a voice teacher. In the 1950s she sold her house in Hofgastein and lived temporarily in Vienna. Her last address was in New York City – on 85th St. in Jackson Heights Queens.

Bella Paalen died at age 83 in the Elmhurst Hospital, Queens New York, on July 28, 1964. Her urn was placed in the Vienna Central Cemetery grave of her parents on December 3, 1964.

#classical music #opera #music history #bel canto #composer #classical composer #aria #classical studies #maestro #chest voice #Bella Paalen #Paalen #contralto #Royal Opera House #Covent Garden #classical musician #classical musicians #classical voice #classical history #history of music #historian of music #music education #music theory #music teacher #voice teacher #pedagogue #diva #prima donna

[a-femmefatalist]

last week I was finally able to visit the surrealist exhibit at Bellas Artes. Definitely did not disappoint and I was really happy to find many Man Ray gems

and plenty of other amazing artists like Dalí, Carrington, Tanguy, Paalen, Rahon, Magritte, Bellmer, Zurn...

#surrealism #surreal art #Bellas Artes #art #art exhibit #Salvador Dalí #Leonora Carrington #Hans Bellmer #Ünica Zurn

[amphtaminedreams]

NOVEMBER 2020->MAY 2022: Photo Dump No.17

DATE SAVED, L-R BY ROW:

1. 30th March 2022 [Angel, Islington], 3rd February 2022 [Rachel Jones: SMIIILLLLEEEE Exhibition @ Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Mayfair], 21st June 2021 [source: instagram account @thefemalewarhol], 20th March 2022, 15th February 2022, 24th May 2021 [Megan Fox as Jennifer Check in Jennifer's Body, dir. Diablo Cody, released November 2009], 7th March 2022 [Wolf Alice live @ the Guildhall, Southampton], 17th September 2021 [graphic by Leo Antonio, source: instagram account @soleoado], 28th November 2021 [Duke of York's Square, Chelsea]

2. 21st June 2021 [source: instagram account @harbsy], 11th January 2022 [source: twitter account @dryomka], 3rd February 2022 [Sophie Tea Art Gallery, Carnaby Street], 3rd April 2022, 22nd March 2022, 1st December 2021 [Alexander McQueen RTW S/S18], 17th March 2022, 24th May 2021 [Alexandra Breckenridge as Moira O'Hara in American Horror Story: Murder House, Season 1 Episode 3, aired 19th October 2011], 20th January 2022

3. 29th January 2022 [Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture Exhibition @ The Bermondsey Fashion & Textile Museum, Bermondsey Street], 13th April 2022 [source: instagram account @secondsapart], 12th March 2022, 5th April 2022, 5th June 2021 [Bella Hadid photographed by Liz Collins for Cosmopolitan Spain, April 2018 issue], 7th January 2022 [Terry's Cafe, Great Suffolk Street, Southwark], 30th May 2021 [Fisherman's Walk, Southbourne Overcliff], 12th April 2022 [background image: Wolfgang Paalen, “The Messenger”, 1941, Surrealism Beyond Borders @ Tate Modern, Bankside), 12th April 2021 [Rihanna photographed out in West Hollywood, 10th April 2021]

4. 20th June 2021 [source: unknown], 27th March 2022 [Bermondsey, Southwark], 1st February 2022 [Half a Roast Chicken & Creative Debuts present: Eve De Haan’s DON'T CRY OVER SPILT MILK pop-up exhibition @ Canada Place, Canary Wharf], 3rd February 2022, 31st May 2021 [Bimini Bon Boulash photographed for Notion Magazine, June 2021 issue], 26th March 2022 [Borough High Street, Southwark], 12th February 2022 [Bermondsey, Southwark], 27th March 2022, 20th March 2022 [Graphic by The Pulp Girls, instagram account: @thepulpgirls]

5. 7th September 2021 [source: instagram account @posterjournal], 3rd March 2022 [Marina Diamandis performing in Washington D.C, photographed by Taneem Momeni & Jaden Russell, March 2022], 17th March 2022, 5th April 2022 [Kin Vegetarian Cate, Fitzrovia], 28th March 2022, 4th January 2022 [Fantastic Things Emporium, Christchurch, Dorset], 24th November 2021 [illustration by Yizheng Ke], 20th November 2021 [Versace RTW F/W18], 7th September 2021 [source: instagram account @yolanda.pdf]

6. 9th June 2021 [Elie Saab Haute Couture S/S20], 20th April 2022 [Xeraco, Valencia], 19th April 2022 [Jávea, Alicante], 18th April 2022 [Dénia, Alicante], 29th August 2021 [Kate Moss for Christian Dior Haute Couture S/S98], 18th April 2022 [Jávea, Alicante], 20th November 2020 [source unknown], 20th March 2022 [source: instagram account @posterjournal], 15th April 2022

7. 17th April 2022 [Jávea, Alicante], 25th July 2022 [source: instagram account @esquivestudio], 28th April 2022, 23rd January 2022 [Heather Phillipson, “RUPTURE NO 1: BLOWTORCHING THE BITTEN PEACH” @ Tate Britain, Millbank], 28th April 2022, 29th September 2021 [Dirty Martini, Billingsgate], 4th November 2021 [Peter Pilotto RTW S/S14], 23rd April 2022, 24th April 2022 [Haggerston, Hackney] 8. 12th November 2021 [Gucci Resort 2019], 29th January 2022 [Beautiful People: The Boutique in 1960s Counterculture Exhibition @ The Bermondsey Fashion & Textile Museum, Bermondsey Street], 15th January 2022 [Pergola on the Wharf, Canary Wharf], 21st November 2021 [Brick Lane Vintage Market, Tower Hamlets], 20th March 2022, 25th May 2021 [Megan Fox for Pawprint Magazine, March 2008 issue], 21st December 2021 [Urban Outfitters “Kindness is Golden" A3 Wall Print], 27th December 2021], 17th March 2022 

9. 13th August 2021, 24th April 2022 [Attendant Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch], 20th November 2021 [Giambattista Valli Haute Couture F/W18], 24th April 2022 [Columbia Road, Bethnal Green], 14th April 2022, 16th April 2022 [Jávea, Alicante], 19th April 2022 [Jávea, Alicante], 7th May 2022, 27th July 2020 [source unknown]

10. 13th March 2022 [Allison Katz: Artery @ Camden Arts Centre, Frognal], 28th February 2022, 10th November 2021 [South Bank, Southwark], 20th November 2021 [Alexander McQueen RTW F/W17], 16th June 2021 [Taylor Momsen performing live @ C-Club, Tempelhof, Berlin, background image source: unknown], 16th June 2021 [Christchurch, Dorset], 2nd June 2021 [source unknown], 6th April 2021 [East Street, Southwark], 20th June 2021 [Megan Fox as Jennifer Check in Jennifer's Body, dir. Diablo Cody, released November 2009]

#photo dump #photos #photography #aesthetics #collage #collaging #fashion #ootd #outfit inspo #fashion inspo #street photography #travel #style inspo #london #europe #art #womensart #moodboard #londonist #high fashion #style #everyday style

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog   Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[opera-ghosts]

On June 10, 1865, the world premiere of "Tristan and Isolde" by R. Wagner took place in Munich.

„Einsam wachend in der Nacht…“

Here are some of the first Mezzos to have sung the role of Brangäne over the years and contributed to the success of this work through their dedication.

Georgette Bastien, mezzo - soprano.

Mimi Berts

Cecilie Darlays

Katharina Fleischer-Edel (September 27, 1873 in Mülheim - July 18, 1928 in Dresden), German soprano.

Laura Hilgermann (13 October 1869 in Vienna – 9 February 1945 in Budapest, Hungarian Empire), Austro-Hungarian soprano/contralto.

Louise Kirkby-Lunn (8 November 1873 – 17 February 1930), English coloratura contralto (sometimes classified as a dramatic mezzo-soprano).

Luise Willer (1888–1970), German contralto.

Bella Paalen (9 July or 9 December 1881 – 28 July 1964), Austrian-American soprano of Hungarian origin.

Emmi Leisner (8 August 1885 in Flensburg - 12 January 1958 in Kampen), German contralto.

Sabine Kalter (28 March 1889 in Jarosław – 1 September 1957 in London), British mezzo-soprano/contralto.

Marie Goetze (November 2, 1865, Berlin - December 18, 1922), contralto.

Ernestine Färber-Strasser (May 12 or 15, 1884 in Königsberg - unknown location, after 1955), German contralto/mezzo-soprano.

#opera #classical music #music history #bel canto #composer #classical composer #aria #classical studies #mezzo soprano #mezzo #classical musician #classical musicians #musician #musicians #classical history #historian of music #diva #prima donna #maestro #chest voice #Tristan und Isolde #Richard Wagner #Wagner #classical singer #classical singing #opera history #history #music

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog   Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog   Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog   Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #abstract #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art.

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog

[milenaolesinska]

Exposition Art Blog  Alice Rahon

Alice Phillipot (later Paalen and Rahon) (8 June 1904 – September 1987) was a French/Mexican poet and artist, whose work contributed to the beginning of abstract expression in Mexico. She began as a surrealist poet in Europe, but began painting in Mexico. She was a prolific artist from the late 1940s to the 1960s, exhibiting frequently in Mexico and the United States, with a wide circle of friends in these two countries. Her work remained tied to surrealism, but was also innovative including abstract elements and the use of new techniques such as sgraffito and the use of sand for texture. She became isolated in her later life due to health issues, and except for retrospectives at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1986 and at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2009 and 2014, has been largely forgotten despite her influence on Mexican modern art. 

More

#Alice Rahon #paintings #art #exposition art blog