Stella

Budapest.: Amicus, 1928. First edition. Paperback. Good. 19,5 cm, 60, [2] pp.Original printed wrappers. Uncut, covers worn, with loss at head and tail of spine, thumbed. Limited edition to 1000. The present copy is 513. Cover design, vignettes and seven constructivist abstractions by László Reiter. This copy with a presentation inscription from László Reiterdated 10.24.1928. With the ownership stamp of Katinka Seiner. Katinka Seiner was born in Budapest, Hungary. She started learning to play the piano at the age of five. At the age of ten her voice was discovered when she began performing roles at school concerts and sang the leading part in the children”s opera “Cinderella” by Poldini. In 1948 she attended an audition for Aladar Toth, the Director of the Budapest Opera House, who predicted a great career for her. She therefore began to take singing lessons at the age of fifteen.After having worked at the Budapest Operetta Theatre for two years, and at the same time having been given the opportunity to study at the Hungarian equivalent of RADA (Academy of Dramatic Arts) Katinka succeeded against tremendous odds (350 entries for 4 places) to enter the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest where she studied until the "Uprising" in 1956. She then escaped to Vienna and from there went to London where she stayed with a cousin. Her first concert in London, after having left Hungary, was at the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Richard Austin. After this she soon appeared in further public concerts with orchestras and instrumental ensembles and on radio and television in programmes such as the documentary on “The Life of Bartok” and the popular series “The Good Old Days”. She gave her first broadcast performance in the UK on Vic Oliver”s programme “Variety Playhouse”, and also was a member of the Glyndebourne Opera Company and the English Opera Company.Her concert, radio and operatic career took her to many countries including Austria, France, Germany, Norway, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, the United States, and others in Europe. She sings in 16 languages and has participated in Music Festivals in Bergen, Menton and Cork. She also performed on the North Cape Cruise on one of the ships of the Royal Viking Line.Apart from her concert with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra she has sung with the London Mozart Players, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, Scottish National Orchestra and the Bergen Symphony Orchestra under many conductors such as Sir Adrian Boult, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Sir George Solti, Sir John Barbirolli, Harry Blech, Vilem Tausky, Paul Sacher, Sir John Pritchard, Paul Hindemith, Vittorio Gui, Peter Gellhorn and Karl Andersen. She has performed with instrumental ensembles such as the English String Quartet, the Melos Ensemble, the Drolc Quartet, the Radio Eire String Quartet and others.At present, apart from giving public performances and master classes in the UK and abroad, Katinka also teaches singing, acting and giving master classes applying the Alexander Method. She has an extensive repertoire of operatic parts, Oratorios, Lieder, light music and folk songs etc. and has given several world first performances on radio and the concert platform, of works by contemporary composers, and has made commercial records of Bartok and Debussy song cycles.She is mentioned in the "International Who”s Who in Music","The World”s Who”s Who of Women" and "The Foremost Women of the Twentieth Century".During the last ten years, apart from her usual professional engagements, Katinka gave several hundred performances for Old Age Homes, Friendship Clubs, Day Centres and Hospitals.