Hungary has issued a stamp on 19th March 2015 to commemorate the life and creative works of Kálmán Imre – an outstanding Hungarian composer. The stamp depicts the composer with the group of musicians. Kálmán Imre was a Hungarian composer of operettas. He was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, then in Austria-Hungary, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, in a Jewish family.After moving to Vienna Kálmán achieved worldwide fame through his operettas Der Zigeunerprimas, Die Csárdásfürstin, Gräfin Mariza, and Die Zirkusprinzessin.
Kálmán and Franz Lehár were the leading composers of what has been called the “Silver Age” of Viennese operetta during the first quarter of the 20th century. He became well known for his fusion of Viennese waltz with Hungarian csárdás. Even so, polyphonically and melodically, Kálmán was a devoted follower of Giacomo Puccini, while in his orchestration methods he employed principles characteristic of Tchaikovsky’s music.
