Kitschmann Anda

Anda Kitschmann (* December 9, 1895 Vienna – † October 10, 1967 Krakow) – daughter of a famous Lviv theater director and the author and translator of Adolf Kitschman’s librettos. She was the first female conductor. In this field, she studied in Vienna and received her diploma in conducting. After returning to Lviv, she made her debut as a composer with the operetta “Paź Złotowłosy”, and as a conductor she performed at the Grand Theater in Lviv in the play “A Fair for a Wife”. She wrote the ballet pantomime “Aphrodite” for Pola Negri. Anda Kitschman was a good pianist, she even gave Chopin recitals. In 1912 she left for Warsaw. From 1916 she was associated with the cabarets “Mirage”, “Czarny kot” “Argus”, where she performed as a singer and actress. Performing her own songs, she accompanied herself to the piano. After World War I, she was active in Lviv, among others in the cabaret “Four” in which she was a composer, songwriter, singer and pianist. She was also the director of the “Semafor” cabaret and a vocal tutor at the Grand Theater in Warsaw. She led vocal groups. During the Second World War, she was arrested by the occupation authorities. After the war, she co-organized the “Siedem kotów” cabaret in Krakow. She composed music for many plays, incl. “About the dwarfs and the orphan Mary”, “Down the Vistula River”, “Pinocchio”, “The Snow Queen”. Among Kitschman’s songs, popularity was gained, among others, by “Anda”, “Legions”, “Lwowianka”, “Mańka”, “Warsaw”, “King’s Tabby”, “I’ll go for a walk in Aleje”. In addition to the abovementioned rich activity, she translated theater plays and opera and operetta librettos. She published her memories about the cabaret “Four” in the volume “Dymek z cigarette”. Many of her popular songs were published after World War I, mainly by the Lviv publishing house of G. Seyfarth. [Most of them are in the collection of the National Library in Warsaw].

More information about the artist on the wikipedia website. Sheet music available at staremelodie.pl.