Sonja Kehler (2 February 1933 – 18 January 2016) was a German actress and chanson singer, known internationally for her interpretation of works by
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...
,
first playing his characters on the theatre stage, then focused on singing his songs and those of others in solo programs. She also taught acting in Danish at the theatre academy in
Odense
Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...
, appeared in films, worked as stage director and presented literary programs.
Career
Born in
Haldensleben
Haldensleben (; Eastphalian: ''Halslä'') is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Börde district.
Geography
It is situated on the Ohre river, near the confluence with its Beber tributary, and the parallel Mitt ...
,
Kehler first studied
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
, planning to become a theatre critic.
When she played a small role in a student theatre project, she was called by the
Theaterhochschule Leipzig
The Theaterhochschule Leipzig was a theatre school in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, which existed from 1953 to 1992. The official name was Theaterhochschule "Hans Otto" Leipzig.
History
The Theaterhochschule Leipzig was founded on 1 November 1953 ...
.
She studied acting there and performed at several theatres in East Germany, playing for example Luise in Schiller's ''
Kabale und Liebe
''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'' or ''Luise Miller'' (german: Kabale und Liebe, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, ...
'', Shen Te in Brecht's ''
Der gute Mensch von Sezuan'' and Grusche in his ''
Der kaukasische Kreidekreis
''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and be ...
''. She also turned to musical theatre as Eliza Doolittle in ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' and Seeräuber-Jenny in the ''
Dreigroschenoper''.
She was a member of theatres in
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
and
Karl-Marx-Stadt
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 28th largest city of Germany as ...
.
The musical parts in Brecht's plays led to her singing chansons, during her student years when she was called "singende Schauspielerin" (the singing actress). She took part in the first chanson competition in the GDR in 1967 and was awarded the special prize "Sonderpreis des Rundfunks".
In 1971 she performed her first Brecht programme,
singing settings by
Paul Dessau
Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them.
Biography
Dessau was born in Hamburg into a ...
,
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
,
Tilo Medek
Tilo Medek, originally Müller-Medek (22 January 1940 – 3 February 2006), was a German classical composer, musicologist and music publisher. He grew up in East Germany, but was inspired by the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. He composed radio plays and ...
and
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
. Her recordings also appeared in West Germany and internationally. She turned to singing chansons in several languages. Tours took her to Algeria,
Austria
and most European countries including Belgium, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
From the mid 1980s, she taught at the drama school at
Odense Teater in Denmark.
After gaining fluency in Danish, she performed at Team Teatret,
Herning
Herning () is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 50,565 (1 January 2022)[Folketeatret, Copenhagen
Folketeatret is a theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark. The theatre was founded in 1857, after an initiative from actor and theater director Hans Wilhelm Lange (1815-1873) who managed the theater until his death in 1873.
Folketeatret is now operated ...]
, remaining attached to Denmark for some 30 years. There she is remembered in particular for singing "Den sidste turist i Europa" (The Last Tourist in Europe) in
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier (''né'' Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish filmmaker, actor, and lyricist. Having garnered a reputation as a highly ambitious, polarizing filmmaker, he has been the subject of several controversies: Cannes, in addition to nominat ...
's film ''
The Element of Crime
''The Element of Crime'' ( da, Forbrydelsens Element) is a 1984 experimental neo-noir crime film co-written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is the first feature film directed by Trier and the first installment of the director's Europa trilogy ...
''.
After the
German Reunification
German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...
, she also worked as a stage director at the Exzellenzhaus Trier and presented literary programmes on authors such as Brecht,
Kästner,
Tucholsky,
Ringelnatz
Joachim Ringelnatz is the pen name of the German author and painter Hans Bötticher
(7 August 1883, Wurzen, Saxony – 17 November 1934, Berlin). His pen name ''Ringelnatz'' is usually explained as a dialect expression for an animal, possibly a ...
,
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
and
Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler (née Elisabeth Schüler) (; 11 February 1869 – 22 January 1945) was a German-Jewish poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressi ...
, often with the pianist
Milan Šamko.
In 1999 she appeared in the film ' after a novel by
Thomas Brussig
Thomas Brussig (born 1964) is a German writer best known for his satirical novels that deal with the German Democratic Republic.
Life
Brussig was born in East Berlin. After attending the "Heinrich-Hertz" School, he went on to train as a buil ...
. A CD of song collection was published on the occasion of her 75th birthday, titled ''Sonja Kehler singt Brecht''.
She died in Berlin.
Selected recordings
The German National Library holds several of her recordings:
* ''Monolog über die Liebe''
* ''Mitternachtstrolleybus'' (1974)
* ''Sonja Kehler singt Hanns Eisler'' (1975)
* ''So muß es sein, Marie – Neue Lieder mit Sonja Kehler'' (1976)
* ''Dessau – Lieder. Sonja Kehler singt Lieder von Paul Dessau nach Texten von Bertolt Brecht'' (1978)
* ''Brecht-Portrait'' (
WERGO
WERGO is a German record label focusing on contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1962 by German art historian and music publisher (1903–1975) and the musicologist Helmut Kirchmeyer. Their first release, filed under "WER 60001", was S ...
, 1978)
* ''Sonja Kehler singt Brecht'' (1978)
* ''Geflügelte Sätze. Lieder mit Sonja Kehler'' (1979)
* ''Gegen die Phrase, die Langeweile und das allgemeine Geschwätz – Dichtungen von
Johannes R. Becher
Johannes Robert Becher (, 22 May 1891 – 11 October 1958) was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writin ...
'' (1980)
* ''Mitteilung an meine bedrückten Freunde'' (1982)
* ''Die Welt ist rund?'' (1988)
* ''Helles Schlafen, dunkles Wachen –
Else Lasker-Schüler
Else Lasker-Schüler (née Elisabeth Schüler) (; 11 February 1869 – 22 January 1945) was a German-Jewish poet and playwright famous for her bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and her poetry. She was one of the few women affiliated with the Expressi ...
'' (1998)
CD-compilations:
* ''Sonja Kehler singt Brecht'' (CD) (Berlin Classics, 2008) – Recordings 1972–78
* ''Der Brecht und ich – Hanns Eisler in Gesprächen und Liedern'' (CD) (Berlin Classics, 2008) – with Sonja Kehler,
Ernst Busch,
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
and others
Stage performances
* Luise in ''
Kabale und Liebe
''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'' or ''Luise Miller'' (german: Kabale und Liebe, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, ...
'' (Friedrich Schiller) (, 1959?)
* Katharina in ''
Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung'' (William Shakespeare) (Theater Neustrelitz, 1959?)
* Shen Te in ''
Der gute Mensch von Sezuan'' (Bertolt Brecht) (Brandenburger Theater, 1960?)
* Eliza Doolittle in ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons f ...
'' (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe) Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz, 1961?)
* Jenny in ''
Dreigroschenoper'' (Bertolt Brecht) Theater Karl-Marx-Stadt (Chemnitz, 1961?)
* Grusche in ''
Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis
''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German Modernism, modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and be ...
'' (Bertolt Brecht)
* Elisabeth in ''
Maria Stuart'' (Friedrich Schiller) – (Staatstheater Stuttgart?) (Regie Harald Quist)
* Phaedra in ''Till Fedra'' (
P. O. Enquist) – Stadttheater Klagenfurt (Dir. Alexandra Thaer)
* ShenTe/ShuiTa in ''Der gute Mensch von Sezuan'' (Bertolt Brecht) Castrop-Rauxel (Regie Franz Bäck)
* Anna in ''
Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger'' (Bertolt Brecht) (Kopenhagen) (direction: Morton Grue)
* Dame in Grau ''Happy end'' (Brecht/Hauptmann) – (Team Teatret, Herning, Dänemark, 1990) (direction: Sonja Kehler)
References
External links
*
* Peter Deeg
Dänen sagen selten nein. / Ein Gespräch mit Sonja Kehler, einer der erfolgreichsten Sängerinnen der DDR(interview, in German) misstilly.de
Sonja Kehler singt Brechtjpc.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kehler, Sonja
German stage actresses
German film actresses
East German musicians
East German women
People from Haldensleben
1933 births
2016 deaths
Theaterhochschule Leipzig alumni
German radio actresses
20th-century German women