Vera Zorina
Encyclopedia
Vera Zorina was a Norwegian ballerina
, musical theatre
actress and choreographer.
where she debuted as a dancer at the Festiviteten, the oldest opera house in Norway
. She received her education at the Lyceum for Girls in Berlin but was trained in dance by Olga Preobrajenska
and Nicholas Legat
.
at age 12 who cast her in his A Midsummer Night's Dream (1929) and Tales of Hoffman (1931). A performance at London's Gaiety Theatre
led to her entrance into the company of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
in 1933. She changed her stage name to Vera Zorina when she joined the Ballet Russe. She won a lead role in the London company of On Your Toes (1937) and was seen by American film producer Samuel Goldwyn
, who signed her to a seven year film contract. Between 1938 and 1946, she would appear in a number of Hollywood movie productions.
One of her most iconic stage roles was the title character in the 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical I Married an Angel
, in which she played an exquisite angel who descends from heaven to marry Hungarian banker Dennis King
, but whose complete lack of human guile presents him with a whole new set of problems. Her role in the film version was played by Jeannette MacDonald.
Starting in 1948, Zorina was associated with Arthur Honegger
's Joan of Arc at the Stake, in which she played the title role in the first American performance with the New York Philharmonic
under Charles Münch
. She subsequently played the role many times, notably in the recorded performance from the Royal Festival Hall
in June 1966 with the London Symphony Orchestra
under Seiji Ozawa
.
In the 1970s, Vera Zorina was appointed director with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
(Den Norske Opera & Ballet). In later years, she was active with the Lincoln Center as an adviser and director and for several seasons directed operas at the Santa Fe Opera
in New Mexico
. In 1986, Vera Zorina completed her autobiography entitled Zorina (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1986)
's second wife; they were married from 1938 to 1946. She danced in productions he choreographed, both on the stage and screen, including On Your Toes
, a Broadway hit later adapted for the screen by Lawrence Riley
.
She was also married to Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson
from 1946 until his death on May 29, 1977, by whom she had two sons: Peter Lieberson
, a composer, and Jonathan Lieberson. Her final marriage was to harpsichordist Paul Wolfe from 1991 until her death at age 86.
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
, musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
actress and choreographer.
Background
Vera Zorina was born Eva Brigitta Hartwig in Berlin, Germany. Her father Fritz was a German and her mother Billie Hartwig was Norwegian. Both were professional singers. Zorina was brought up in KristiansundKristiansund
Kristiansund is a city and municipality on the western coast of Norway, in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. It was officially awarded township status in 1742, and it is still the major town for the region. The administrative center of the municipality is the city of Kristiansund...
where she debuted as a dancer at the Festiviteten, the oldest opera house in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. She received her education at the Lyceum for Girls in Berlin but was trained in dance by Olga Preobrajenska
Olga Preobrajenska
Olga Iosifovna Preobrajenska was probably the best loved ballerina of the Russian Imperial Ballet....
and Nicholas Legat
Nicholas Legat
Nikolai Gustavovich Legat , was a dancer with the Russian Imperial Ballet from 1888 to 1914 and was the main successor to the rôles of the great ballet dancer, Pavel Gerdt....
.
Career
She was presented to Max ReinhardtMax Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
at age 12 who cast her in his A Midsummer Night's Dream (1929) and Tales of Hoffman (1931). A performance at London's Gaiety Theatre
Gaiety Theatre
The Gaiety Theatre is a theatre on South King Street in Dublin, Ireland, off Grafton Street and close to St. Stephen's Green. It specialises in operatic and musical productions, with occasional dramatic shows.-History:Designed by architect C.J...
led to her entrance into the company of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was a ballet company created by members of the Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo in 1938 after Léonide Massine and René Blum had a falling-out with the co-founder Wassily de Basil...
in 1933. She changed her stage name to Vera Zorina when she joined the Ballet Russe. She won a lead role in the London company of On Your Toes (1937) and was seen by American film producer Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
, who signed her to a seven year film contract. Between 1938 and 1946, she would appear in a number of Hollywood movie productions.
One of her most iconic stage roles was the title character in the 1938 Rodgers and Hart musical I Married an Angel
I Married an Angel
I Married An Angel is a musical comedy by Rodgers and Hart. It was adapted from a play by Hungarian playwright János Vaszary, entitled Angyalt Vettem Felesegul. The book was by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, with music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart. The story concerns a wealthy banker who,...
, in which she played an exquisite angel who descends from heaven to marry Hungarian banker Dennis King
Dennis King
Dennis King was an English actor and singer.Born in Coventry as Dennis Pratt, King had a stage career in both drama and musicals. He emigrated to the USA in 1921 and went on to a successful career on the Broadway stage. He appeared in two musical films and played non-singing roles in two other...
, but whose complete lack of human guile presents him with a whole new set of problems. Her role in the film version was played by Jeannette MacDonald.
Starting in 1948, Zorina was associated with Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger
Arthur Honegger was a Swiss composer, who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. He was a member of Les six. His most frequently performed work is probably the orchestral work Pacific 231, which is interpreted as imitating the sound of a steam locomotive.-Biography:Born...
's Joan of Arc at the Stake, in which she played the title role in the first American performance with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
under Charles Münch
Charles Münch
Charles Munch was an Alsatian symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he is best known as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.-Biography:...
. She subsequently played the role many times, notably in the recorded performance from the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in June 1966 with the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...
under Seiji Ozawa
Seiji Ozawa
is a Japanese conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of large-scale late Romantic works. He is most known for his work as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Vienna State Opera.-Early years:...
.
In the 1970s, Vera Zorina was appointed director with the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet
The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet is the first fully professional company for opera and ballet in Norway. Its seat is the Oslo Opera House.It was founded in 1957...
(Den Norske Opera & Ballet). In later years, she was active with the Lincoln Center as an adviser and director and for several seasons directed operas at the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
in New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. In 1986, Vera Zorina completed her autobiography entitled Zorina (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. 1986)
Personal life
She was George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
's second wife; they were married from 1938 to 1946. She danced in productions he choreographed, both on the stage and screen, including On Your Toes
On Your Toes
On Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
, a Broadway hit later adapted for the screen by Lawrence Riley
Lawrence Riley
Lawrence Riley was a successful American playwright and screenwriter. He gained fame in 1934 as the author of the Broadway hit Personal Appearance, which was turned by Mae West into the classic film Go West, Young Man , starring herself.-Biography:Riley was a Princeton University alumnus and a...
.
She was also married to Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson
Goddard Lieberson was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and from 1973 to 1975. He was also a composer, and studied with George Frederick McKay, at the University of Washington, Seattle....
from 1946 until his death on May 29, 1977, by whom she had two sons: Peter Lieberson
Peter Lieberson
Peter Lieberson was an American composer. He was ballerina and choreographer Vera Zorina and Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records....
, a composer, and Jonathan Lieberson. Her final marriage was to harpsichordist Paul Wolfe from 1991 until her death at age 86.
Filmography
- Seine Freundin Annette (1930)
- The Goldwyn FolliesThe Goldwyn FolliesThe Goldwyn Follies is a 1938 Technicolor film written by Ben Hecht, Sid Kuller, Sam Perrin and Arthur Phillips, with music by George Gershwin, Vernon Duke, and Ray Golden, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Some sources credit Kurt Weill as one of the composers, but this is apparently incorrect...
(1938) - On Your ToesOn Your ToesOn Your Toes is a musical with a book by Richard Rodgers, George Abbott, and Lorenz Hart, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. It was adapted into a film in 1939....
(1939) - I Was an AdventuressI Was an AdventuressI Was an Adventuress is a 1940 Drama directed by Gregory Ratoff, starring Vera Zorina, Richard Greene, Erich von Stroheim and Peter Lorre. Actress/ballerina Countess Tanya Vronsky is a phony countess, working in concert with two international con artists Andre Desormeaux and Polo .-Cast:* Vera...
(1940) - Louisiana PurchaseLouisiana Purchase (film)Louisiana Purchase is a 1941 film adaptation of the musical theater play, Louisiana Purchase. A Paramount Pictures production, the film was directed by Irving Cummings with Robert Emmett Dolan serving as musical director as he had done for the play. Starring comedian Bob Hope, the film featured...
(1941) - Star Spangled RhythmStar Spangled RhythmStar Spangled Rhythm is a 1943 all-star cast musical film made by Paramount Pictures during World War II as a morale booster. Many of the Hollywood studios produced such films during the war, generally musicals, frequently with flimsy storylines, and with the specific intent of entertaining the...
(1942) - Follow the BoysFollow the BoysFollow the Boys , also known as Three Cheers for the Boys, is a musical film made by Universal Pictures as an all-star cast morale booster to entertain the troops abroad and the civilians at home. The film was directed by A. Edward "Eddie" Sutherland and produced by Charles K. Feldman...
(1944) - Lover Come BackLover Come BackLover Come Back is a 1961 Eastmancolor romantic comedy released by Universal Pictures. The film stars Doris Day and Rock Hudson in their second film together. The supporting cast includes Tony Randall, Edie Adams, Ann B. Davis, and Donna Douglas....
(1946)
Other sources
- Koegler, Horst The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Ballet (Oxford Paperback Reference. 1982)
Obituaries
- http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/12/arts/vera-zorina-86-is-dead-ballerina-for-balanchine.htmlNY Times, Anna KisselgoffAnna KisselgoffAnna Kisselgoff is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for the New York Times. She began at the Times as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she held until 2005...
, April 12 th, 2003]