16
•
Friday, May 15, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
LIFE'S SPECIAL EVENTS
1)
S HOULD BE RECORDED FOREVER
VIDEO
TAPE
YOUR SPECIAL OCCASION
• Weddings • Bar Mitzvas • Private Parties
• Anniversaries • Birthdays • Etc.
See Our FULL-SERVICE Studio
LEGAL TAPES, INC.
Established 10 years
22530 W. 8 Mile Rd. 35-Video
or 353-3355 1
Southfield
`Servus Du' Recounts Life of Robert Stolz
"Servus Du," the tradi-
tional Austrian greeting, is
also the title of the fascinat-
ing memoirs of a world
famous musician whosd life
and work spanned empires,
revolutions and continents.
Born in 1880 in the. old
Austro-Hungarian Empire,
Robert Stolz grew up to be-
come-Vienna's last waltz
and operetta king.
He knew everyone from
the last two Hapsburg em-
perors to Marilyn Monroe
and Albert Einstein. Nor
was he a stranger to adven-
ture. The "Pure Aryan"
melody king of early Ger-
man sound films, Stolz re-
peatedly risked his life to
smuggle Jewish and politi-
cal fugitives -from the Ges-
tapo across the border to
Austria. After the "Au-
schluss" in 1938 he carved
out a new career in New
York and Hollywood and
then spent his last years
composing, conducting and
recording for millions of
fans in Europe, North and
THIS SATURDAY ONLY!
THE INCREDIBLE
SAVIN AUCTION
ON COPIERS.
That's right, an auction on
copier systems that's
destined to make history! This Saturday only at 10:00 am at the Detroit
area branch of the Savin Corporation. Savin has grown so big they must
move into larger quarters and that means you can save hundreds of
dollars on new and used Savin, and other used national brand copiers.
The doors open- at 10:00 am, and the auction starts at noon, this Saturday
only, May 16th, at the Detroit area branch of the Savin Corporation.
Refreshments will be served and on the spot financing is available.
Register to win
the Savin 840-
the newest, lightest,
plain paper copier with
microprocessor and fiber
optics. No purchase necessary.
SAVIN
N..
O
OAKLAND
MALL
14
DOBBS
FuRN
MILE RD
¢-
Z
=
cm
savin
The Detroit area branch of the Sevin Corporation.
263 Executive Drive. 1 4 mile east of the Oakland Mall on 14mile in Troy.
SATURDAY MAY 16TH, AT 10:00 AM.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL SAVIN AT 585-6085.
THE STOLZES
South America, Australia,
Africa and Israel. This is his
story, told in his own warm,
amusing words and those of
his wife to author Aram
Bakshian Jr.
In the setting of his ex-
citing century (1880-1975)
Robert Stolz, the last
great master of the
"Silver Age" of Viennese
operetta and songs con-
fides his loves, misadven-
tures and tragedies, and
also his triumphs as a
composer and conductor,
his collaboration with
celebrated singers, direc-
tors and actors, and his
friendship and conversa-
tions with musical im-
mortals including
Brahms, Bruckner, Puc-
cini, Johann Strauss and
Franz Lehar.
Richly illustrated with
130 photographs and fac-
similies, the text gives the
first full portrait of the Vie-
nnese Waltz King many
people thought of only as a
lucky, carefree child of the
muse.
But there was more to
Robert Stolz. Cruelty and
injustice also weighed more
heavily on him than private
cares. Despite his "Pure
Aryan" status, the
encouragement of the Nazi
authorities and the popular-
ity of his melodies such as
"Two Hearts in Three Quar-
ter Time," "Don't Ask Me
Why" (immortalized by
Marlene Dietrich and
Richard Tauber), "The
Woods of Vienna Are Cal-
ling" and hundreds of other
global hits popularized in
early German sound films,
Robert Stolz helped scores of
persecuted Jews and politi-
cal refugees to escape from
Hitler's thugs.
In the 1930s he was divid-
ing his time between his
home in Vienna and Berlin
where he composed scores
for films. He and Franz
Lehar were the only two in-
ternationally known com-
posers of the day in Ger-
many who were not Jewish.
A friend asked Stolz to help
a woman who wanted to flee
the country. She had no
money, no papers, and her
husband had been thrown
into prison.
Stolz hid the woman
and her two children
under blankets in the
back of his very large and
very elegant car, taped
the detested swastika to
the side, sat up front with
his chauffeur and headed'
for the Germany-Austria
border.
At the checkpoint Stolz
engaged the guard in such
an amiable conversation
that the guard, flustered -at
meeting a celebrity, never
bothered to check the car.
Stolz was so elated that he
made 21 more rescue trips
between 1933 and 1938 —
feats for which the Israeli
government later honored
him.
After Hitler annexed Au-
stria in 1938, Stolz' Vienna
flat became a haven for
Jews. Humanitarian efforts
ended when his brother
Max phoned in the middle of
the night. Max, who was a
member of the Nazi Party,
ordered Robert to get rid of
his Jewish guests or "I'll
come with the Gestapok and
put them where they belong
and you with them!"
Robert replied, "You go to
hell and your Fuhrer with
you!" Then he fled to Par-is.
In Paris, with the out-
break of the Second
World War, his fourth
wife abandoned him, tak-
ing all of his papers and
possessions and he was
thrown into a French
interment camp as an
enemy alien without
documents. Friendless,
penniless and seriously
ill, he was rescued by
"Einzi," a young student
who would become his
adoring wife and in-
separable companion for
the remaining 35 years of
his life. Einzi's real name
was Yvonne Louise Ul-
rich.
The final chapter of
Robert's exile took him to
America — New York and
Hollywood. Here in exile
Robert Stolz was reunited
with old friends like the
legendary Max Reinhardt
and the "Diva of the Cen-
tury," Maria Jeritza.
He also made new friends
including Igor Stravinsky,
Charlie Chaplin, Mae West,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Marilyn Monioe, Fred As-
taire, W. C. Fields, Leonard
Bernstein, Judy Garland,
Clark Gable and Orson Wel-
les.
Stolz had guest conductor
appearances with every
m-ajor orchestra in the
United States and two
Oscar nominations for film
scores, and he had a senti-
mental return to ruined
.post-war Vienna where, to-
gether with his beloved
Einzi, he began yet another
career reviving the moreale
of a crushed Germany and
Austria and providing
popular concert, theater, re-
cord and film music.
In her epilogue, Einzi
Stolz describes their Vie-
nnese homecoming, the
tense tragi-comic setting
of occupied Vienna, and
the long hard road to new
freedom and prosperity.
As director of his cele-
brated "Night in Vienna"
concerts throughout
Europe, America and the
Middle East, as a master of
modern recording studio-
technique, and as the last
living link • to Johann
Strauss ever to direct
"Fledermaus" in the Vienna
Staatsoper, Robert Stolz
ended his 95 years of hectic
and highly dramatic life as
-Europe's musical "Grand
Old Man," actively conduct-
ing and composing to the
very end.