Josma Selim (born Hedwig Fischer; 23 February 1886Geburts-Buch für die israelitische Cultusgemeine in Wien. Entry no. 2360 from February 23, 1886 – 25 August 1929) was an Austrian singer. She appeared in

Kabarett Kabarett (; from French ''cabaret'' = tavern) is satirical revue, a form of cabaret which was developed in France by Rodolphe Salis in 1881 as the ''cabaret artistique''. It was named Le Chat Noir and was centered on political events and satire. ...

, and toured Europe giving performances accompanied on the piano by her husband

Ralph Benatzky Ralph Benatzky (5 June 1884 – 16 October 1957), born in Mährisch Budwitz ( Moravské Budějovice) as Rudolph Franz rantišekJosef Benatzky, was an Austrian composer of Moravian origin. He composed operas and operettas, such as '' Casanova'' ...

Life

Selim was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1886. She studied singing with the

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 ...

singer Viktor Heim; she then turned to Kabarett, and appeared in establishments in Vienna, from 1909 to 1912 at ', and from 1912 at ''Simplicissimus''. She soon became a well known singer."Selim (verh. Benatzky), Josma (eig. Hedwig Josma Fischer)"
''

Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon The ''Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon'Oesterreichisch'' with ''Oe'' is the spelling of the print and online output. (, ) is a five-volume music encyclopedia founded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Commission for Music Research. It was offic ...

Online''. Retrieved 6 March 2022. She married in 1914 the composer Ralph Benatzky. He wrote about 500 songs for her, and accompanied her on the piano; together they toured Germany, Switzerland, Italy and England. Her style of presentation was based on Kabarett in Munich (in particular the venue ) and in Vienna (). In 1921, Selim and Benatzky performed to great acclaim at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, and from that time the city became important in their work. From 1924 they lived in Berlin, where they made recordings of their songs. Selim died in Berlin in 1929.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Selim, Josma 1886 births 1929 deaths Singers from Vienna Austrian cabaret performers 20th-century Austrian women singers