Hana Hegerová


Hana Hegerová was a Slovak singer and actress. Often referred to as the Queen of Czechoslovak chanson, she gained popularity primarily as a singer of chansons. Outside of Czechoslovakia, Hegerová attained recognition especially in German-speaking countries.
WWW hanahegerova.cz

Early life

Hegerová was born Carmen Mária Štefánia Farkašová.

Career

In 1954, Hegerová played the title role in the film Frona under the name Hana Čelková. She made her singing debut in Tatra Revue in Bratislava in 1957. After she came to Prague, the foremost Czech actor Jan Werich offered her an engagement in the, but she refused. Hegerová performed at the Rokoko Theatre in Prague from 1958 until 2021. From 1961 to 1966 at the Semafor Theater, she appeared in the jazz opera Dobře placená procházka by Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr, and film Kdyby tisíc klarinetů. Hegerová's repertoire included many chansons by Czech and Slovak authors, and also Czech versions of songs from the repertoire of Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, and songs by Kurt Weill and many others. In 1967, Hana Hegerová appeared at the Paris Olympia.
In 2002, Heregová received a Medal of Merit from Czech President Václav Havel. In 2014, she received an Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk from President Miloš Zeman.
In August 2011, the national press announced that the diva decided to retire from the music industry, telling MusicServer: "I have decided that I no longer want it. I don't want to sing, I don't want to go public. I want to get rid of stress. Simply, the Hana Hegerová enterprise is terminated, only Hana Hegerová remains as a private person who finally wants to enjoy peaceful days with her dog. Wish me luck so that there are still lots of them left."

Illness and death

In December 2014, Hegerová was hospitalized with serious heart problems in the General University Hospital in Prague.
She died on 23 March 2021 at 89 years old in Prague Hospital due to complications from a hip fracture.

Discography

;Studio albums
  • 1966: Šansony s Hanou Hegerovou
  • 1971: Recital
  • 1973: Recital 2
  • 1977: Lásko prokletá
  • 1987: Potměšilý host
  • 2010: Mlýnské kolo v srdci mém
;Export albums
  • 1967: Ich
  • 1969: Hana Hegerová
  • 1972: So geht es auf der Welt zu
  • 1974: Fast ein Liebeslied
  • 1975: Wir für euch
  • 1987: ''Chansons''

Awards

Major awards

;NotesA "Szeptem" composed by Jerzy Abratowski for lyrics by Jacek Korczakowski, and the Gold award won by "Jesienna rozłąka" sung by Anita Traversi from Switzerland.B Hegerová shared the Bronze award along with Emil Dimitrov who entered the contest with "Arlekino". The Gold went to Greek Jeanne Yovanna for "Ti Krima", while Silver won by "Stav" by Ester Reichstadt from Israel.C The award for the Female Singer of the Year went to Lucie Bílá, while the second nominee was Lucie Vondráčková.D The category of the Album of the Year won by Tepláky aneb Kroky Františka Soukupa set by Nightwork band. Outlet People by Toxique group featured the rest of nominated works.E According to the municipal authorities, Prague 1 awards the Honorary citizenship title only exceptionally. As such, Hegerová became the first female ever and the fifth honoree in total, respectively.

Music polls

;NotesF The initial two editions of the Zlatý slavík poll included only one category for both, either male or female vocalists. Else in 1962, Hegerová would be ranked as the third most popular female singer, following Yvetta Simonová and Eva Pilarová.G In 1963, Hegerová entered the poll as the second most voted female vocalist in the country, following Pilarová.