November 22, 2007

Operetta Anyone?

Imre Kalman was a famous composer of operetta and this is a statue of him in front of the Operetta Theater in Budapest on Nagymezo u. - also known as the Budapest Broadway.

24 comments:

Annie said...

That's interesting! You can sit next to him and have your photo taken with his arm around you. :)

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

Isn't that sompin', Annie?
>8@

Anyway, Wiki has a neat entry on Kalman and now I have a question for you: why do words like Tatárjárás require so many accents?

duopastorale said...

That's a great sculpture. I'm ashamed to say that I've never heard of him. Interesting.

My Blogs
Quick Snap 365
This I Do...

Annie said...

Even in stone, he looks to be an animated figure.

Wayne said...

That's an amazing statue. And what a cool shot you snapped, with the rain drops all over it, glittering like diamonds or fairy dust!
Thanks,
Wayne

Oswegan said...

Interesting sculpture.

~Oswegan

Clueless in Boston said...

I like the entire sculpture and the way the iron bench juts out from the stone.

Anonymous said...

cool statue! nice shot!

Isadora said...

Thank you all for visiting - I guess I'm pretty much alone with my love for operetta. It must be a cultural thing, I grew up on it and can pretty much sing all the famous numbers.

Fenix - the accent marks make the letters a, e, u', u" and even u: into a different letter. You can get a visual at the link.

There are statues all over town similar to this, and if you remember Zsolt's post of a few weeks ago in Buda where there is a group of adults with umbrellas. I've seen similar statues in DC also.

Mr. Kalman (born by the lake Balaton and passed away in Paris) is one of the best known Hungarian operetta composers.

Fénix - Bostonscapes said...

OK, so the first a sounds different than the other three. Got that. Now, how do you pronounce the a without an accent and the a with the accent?

Or, better yet, how do you pronounce Tatárjárás?

A happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones.

Lynette said...

Great photo of an interesting statue. Do people sit there to be photographed with him?

Hope you can soon find brussels sprouts without the added protein!

Isadora said...

Fenix - being an aquarian precision is so remote from me that I can't explain to you how and why these sounds are different. How about a live sound test in the spring while visiting all these great restaurants?

Lynette :) for sure. I'm suspicious of the little buggers now.

Jules said...

This is just so cool! A seat and a statue - bargain!!!

Amrita said...

Hi Isadora, Just a quick note to say thank you for visiting my blog.I just love your photos too.

Budapest is fantastic a lot of Indian movies are being shot there.

Yes I know the scanned photos go faster than the uploaded ones , it the slow connection.

Isadora said...

Annie - yes, it is a public bench and you can sit there with him and watch the world go by or have your lunch or just be inspired.

Fenix - finally, how in the world did you come up with TATARJARAS? Do you know what it means :) Pretty tragic phase of Hungary's history it means 'raids by the Tatars' Around 1240 we were invaded by the Mongols for a time - although not as long as the 150 years the Turkish were our beloved guests, then the Austro empire and finally our very red 'liberators' :)

Gudl said...

Cool pictue!

WichitaKsDailyPhoto said...

I like the bench (it has no legs), and the statue is nice (and has legs). The closest I've cpme to enjoying operetta is when my little granddaughter and I, sing/talk to each other. But, when trying to enjoy a live opera - I find myself struggling to understand what they are saying.

Ming the Merciless said...

I love operetta since they are mostly shorter and less "heavy" than regular operas.

I will look Kalman up on Wiki, like fenix said.

Gwen said...

Sculpture adds nice visual to the street scene.

Isadora said...

Ming - one of the most famous, traditional New Years eve operetta is Johann Strauss' Die Fledermouse or THE BAT. It is a comedy with amazingly ear tickling music that lets your heart soar. The Kennedy Center started producing it for New Years in recent years so I was able to continue my tradition of attending a performance on Dec. 31st. :)

david mcmahon said...

G'day from Australia,

Yes, I've heard of him. I love the way the bench/ statue protrudes from the rock.

And the mellow tones of the image are beautiful.

Dsole said...

Isadora, nice to meet you, I've just read your comment on old Madrid DP I give up months ago. I see you've just started a month and half ago and you're having a great success. Dailyphotoblogging is such a great experience, I really enjoyed it and you'll meet wonderful people everyday and learn sooo much about a huge looot of different cities, I'm missing it already but I don't have the time to post everyday , so I have the other blog and try to keep in touch with this amazing community.

Interesting thing about the women and apples, I like it very much!
Your pics are great, keep going like that!
Huges from Madrid :)

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Poor guy, he's getting wet!

Nice statue and story.

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

I like so so operetta but the statue is fine, the idea is great and the capture is nice !