Marta Eggerth: "Never retire."

I would not have known about Marta Eggerth's birthday had I not listened to a tribute to her on our local public radio station's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. The host played a number of Merry Widow songs sung by her (in at least 4 languages!). He quoted Marta Eggerth's advice for a long life: "Never retire." She and her son have their own YouTube channel.

Marta Eggerth - 99 years old today - is one of the last of the great European operetta stars. Max Reinhardt directed her in Die Fledermaus.
In 1927. Franz Lehar wrote shows for her.

In 2004 when Queen Juliana died, a Dutch television history program called Andere Tijden (in English, Other Times) featured a segment about Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard's 1937 wedding and marriage. Part of it was spent at the Hotel Patria in the Polish ski resort of Krynica (on the Czech border). The hotel was owned by Jan Kiepura, the singer, who had recently married Marta Eggerth. There is a fascinating clip featuring Marta Eggerth - starting at 11:58 to about 25:00 - reminiscing about meeting and spending time with the royal couple at the hotel. She also sings in the clip - definitely she has not lost her theatrical and operatic allure. The program is in Dutch and Polish but Ms Eggerth speaks in English. I cannot embed it, so click here for the clip.

Last year when she was 98, one of her films was shown at MoMA in NYC.

REMEMBERING BY VOLUNTEERING

UPDATE: Video: Alexander and Máxima today at MADD Day 2009




Today is the anniversary of the deaths of two Dutch queens. Queen Juliana died five years ago on 20th March. Her grandmother queen Emma died 70 years before. (see the photo on left taken at Soestdijk, soooo long ago!).

Today is also the start of a two-day event, Make a Difference Day, a program promoting volunteerism in The Netherlands. Members of the Dutch royal family will take part in MADD at various social service agencies throughout the land.


Last year Queen Beatrix made apple pies for volunteers at a nature center (photo at right). Tomorrow she will put her sculpting talents to work and will help the visually impaired create art at a center in Zeist.

I remember Juliana saying that if she had not been queen, she would have liked to have been a social worker. What a wonderful way for Beatrix to honour the exuberant spirit of her mother.

Volunteering comes in all shapes and sizes. In the US, there was a MADD last October. And Michelle Obama dished out mushroom risotto for the homeless at a soup kitchen earlier this month and promised she'd be back to help. The Dutch royals do the same and quietly return to volunteer, without fanfare, when the cameras are not around.

(Photos are copyrighted & courtesy of BV Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau ANP.)