Dorothea Anna Chlotilde Komarek (18 April 1914 – 21 November 2006) was an Austrian dancer, actress and operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Life

Born in Vienna, Dorothea Komarek performed in the children's ballet of the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a historic opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by ...

in her youth before making her adult debut as a professional dancer at the same venue in 1933. The State Opera engaged her, who had also enjoyed vocal training, as a singer two years later. She remained there until the closure of all theatres ordered by

Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda ...

in late summer 1944. Komar's best-known successes on stage are, among others, ''

The Bartered Bride ''The Bartered Bride'' (, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It ...

'', ''

the marriage of Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienn ...

'', ''

the magic flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' and ''

Die Entführung aus dem Serail ' () (Köchel catalogue, K. 384; ''The Abduction from the Seraglio''; also known as ') is a singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Gottlieb Stephanie, based on Christoph Friedrich Bretzner's . The plot concer ...

''. Komar was also a leading actress in feature films. Immediately following her brilliant debut alongside

Willi Forst Willi Forst, born Wilhelm Anton Frohs (7 April 1903 – 11 August 1980) was an Austrian actor, screenwriter, film director, film producer and singer. As a debonair actor he was a darling of the German language, German-speaking film audiences, as ...

in the box-office hit ''

Operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

'', she was cast twice as

Johannes Heesters Johan Marius Nicolaas Heesters (5 December 1903 – 24 December 2011), known professionally as Johannes Heesters, was a Dutch-German actor of stage, television and film, as well as a vocalist of numerous recordings and performer on the conce ...

's partner. (in ''Immer nur Du'' and ') and appeared in her last film role before the end of the war in the magnificent colour film ''

Viennese Girls ''Viennese Girls'' (German: ''Wiener Mädeln'') is a 1945 historical musical film directed by Willi Forst and starring Forst, Anton Edthofer and Judith Holzmeister. The film was made by Wien-Film, a Vienna-based company set up after Austria had ...

'' once again alongside Willi Forst, this time in Prague, a city largely spared by the war. Komarek, married since 1941 to Somborn, emigrated in 1946 with her husband (since 1941), the Cologne lawyer and producer of the Forst Komar films ''Operetta'' and ''Wiener Mädeln'' Hans Somborn, and their three children to Rio de Janeiro, where Dora Komar continued her artistic activities. She gave recitals at the Theatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s with works by

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Strauss Strauss, Strauß, or Straus is a common Germanic surname. Outside Germany and Austria ''Strauß'' is usually spelled ''Strauss'' (the letter " ß" is not used in the German-speaking part of Switzerland). In classical music, "Strauss" most com ...

, Lehár and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and guest performances of opera arias in Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The Somborn family returned to Austria in 1970. The couple often stayed in Portugal, where their youngest son lived. Hans Somborn died in Lisbon on 30 January 1993, his widow there on 21 November 2006 at the age of 92.

Filmography

* 1940: ''Operetta'' * 1941: ''Immer nur Du'' * 1943: '' Carnival of Love''''Durch dich wird diese Welt erst schön''
on Secondhandsongs * 1943: ''Glück unterwegs'' * 1945: ''Viennese Girls''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Komar, Dora Austrian operatic sopranos Austrian stage actresses Austrian film actresses Austrian ballerinas 1914 births 2006 deaths Musicians from Vienna Dancers from Vienna Actresses from Vienna 20th-century Austrian ballet dancers