Zarah 47

It is March 15, 1947, Zarah Leander’s 40th birthday. Four years before that, still the celebrated star of the UFA, she is now unemployed and waiting in vain for birthday guests and offers. In Sweden, persona non grata, banned from working in Germany, the diva justifies herself in a furious monologue. Cleverly, with a lot of wit and without any scruples, she proclaims the credo of many Nazi artists: to have known nothing. She gets caught up in her own life’s lies, her melancholy songs become bitterly evil comments of a career bought with political foresight.

So she wanders through her rooms alone at Gut Lén in Sweden. No one comes forward. Zarah begins to revel in memories ... and, of course, to sing. Peter Lund’s musical monologue is an acting feat for a singing actress. In the Chemnitz production, Sylvia Schramm-Heilfort slips into the role of Zarah Leander and, in the intimate atmosphere of the opera café, offers insights into the eventful life of the grande dame with her special voice.