Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian composer, born in Siófok, who became one of the leading figures of Viennese operetta after establishing his career in Budapest and then Vienna. His works, including Die Csárdásfürstin (1915) and Gräfin Mariza (1924), blend the Viennese waltz with Hungarian csárdás rhythms. Of Jewish descent, he fled Europe after the Anschluss, living in Paris and then the United States before returning to Paris, where he died in 1953.

Kálmán is regarded, alongside Franz Lehár, as a leading composer of the “Silver Age” of Viennese operetta, and his fusion of Hungarian and Viennese musical idioms broadened the genre’s expressive and rhythmic vocabulary. His refusal of Nazi Germany’s offer of “honorary Aryan” status, made in recognition of his popularity even under the regime, underscores his significance as both artist and public figure; his major operettas remain in the active European stage repertoire today.

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmerich_Kálmán