Kurt Honolka | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1913-09-27)27 September 1913 |
| Died | 7 October 1988(1988-10-07) (aged 75) |
| Education | German University in Prague |
| Occupations |
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| Organizations | |
Kurt Honolka (27 September 1913 – 7 October 1988) was a Germanmusicologist, journalist, andmusic and theatre critic. He is known as a translator of the librettos of Czech operas into German, such as Smetana'sDalibor and Janáček'sOsud.
Born inLitoměřice,Bohemia, Honolka studiedmusicology and law at theGerman University in Prague,[1] and earned a Ph.D. in law. He worked almost exclusively as a musicologist. He became a member of theNazi Party in 1939.[2] He published in the daily newspapersPrager Tagblatt[3] andDer neue Tag. From 1941, he wrote war reports (Kriegsberichte), for exampleKampfflieger über England. Aus dem Tagebuch einer Kampffliegerstaffel (Fels-Verlag, Essen 1942),[2] andFliegerkameraden (Fels-Verlag, Essen 1944).[4]
Honolka was a music critic for theStuttgarter Nachrichten and editor of the Feuilleton section from 1949 to 1963.[1][3] He also worked as a musicologist and translated several librettos of operas to German, especially those by Czech composers.[3] He tried to revive forgotten works by notable composers by using new, more dramatic texts, for example Weber'sEuryanthe and Schubert'sAlfonso und Estrella. He also translated songs and choral music.[5] His translation to German of Smetana'sDalibor was used in a new production in 2019 of theOper Frankfurt.[6]
Honolka received theOrder of Merit of Baden-Württemberg in 1980. He was awarded theSchubart-Literaturpreis of the city of Aalen in 1986. He died inStuttgart on 7 October 1988.[5]
Publications by Honolka are held by theGerman National Library, including:[7]
