Lore Lorentz

Lore Lorentz in 1966

Lore Lorentz (12 September 1920 – 22 February 1994) was a German Kabarett artist and standup comedian.[1]

She was born in Mährisch-Ostrau, Czechoslovakia (today Ostrava in the Czech Republic), as Lore Schirmer. She studied history, German literature and philosophy in Berlin and Vienna. In Berlin, she met Kay Lorentz [de], who became her husband in 1944.[1] Together, they founded the Kabarett Kom(m)ödchen in Düsseldorf in 1947. It was one of the first political cabarets in Allied-occupied Germany after the Second World War.[1] Until 1983, Lore and Kay Lorentz were directors of the Kommödchen and part of the ensemble.

Starting in 1976, she taught chanson, song, and musicals at Folkwang Hochschule.[1]

In 1983, she started with solo programs. One of her most famous programs consisted exclusively of texts written by Heinrich Heine; even though he had written them more than a century before Lorentz' program was performed, they all referred to current topics.

She received several prizes:

Kay and Lore Lorentz rejected the Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) in 1976. A secondary school in Düsseldorf is named in her honour.[2]

She died in 1994 in Düsseldorf of pneumonia.

On audio CD:

  • Denk ich an Deutschland (A cabaret evening with texts of Heinrich Heine). CD. ISBN 3-931265-00-5
  • Chansons. CD. ISBN 3-931265-01-3
  • Frivolitäten – 10 Diseusen – 10 Chansons. LP. Polydor J 73 555

References

  1. ^ a b c d Tschierschke, Anja; Zündorf, Irmgard. "Lore Lorentz 1920–1994" (in German). Lebendiges Museum Online [de].
  2. ^ "Lore Lorentz" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Lore-Lorentz-Schule, Düsseldorf