Heinrich Haape
Heinrich Haape (1910-1976) was a German-born doctor, businessman, opera producer and arts supporter.
Contents
Biography
He married Martha Arazym, an opera singer in the Stuttgart Opera, in 1942 by Proxy in Duisburg while in the Army.
In 1952, he emigrated to Durban, South Africa, where he undertook a number of business projects. He became ill in 1976 and was flown to Germany for hospital treatment, diagnosed with Kidney Cancer and he died on the operating table on 18th February 1976.
He wrote Moscow Tram Stop: A Doctor’s Experiences with the German Spearhead in Russia, which was published initially in London by Collins in 1957.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
In 1959, Heinrich Haape launched the Durban Opera Company, the first local opera group to tour to the (then) Transvaal. Haape became the chairman of the NAPAC Opera Committee and was the main driving force behind NAPAC’s decision to buy the Alhambra Theatre.
In 1964, Dr Haape produced both Madame Butterfly and The Tales of Hoffmann in Durban with many of Xenia Belmas's students singing in these operas.
Sources
Hilde Roos. 2010. 'Opera Production in the Western Cape: Strategies in Search of Indigenisation'. Unpublished PhD thesis. Stellenbosch University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenia_Belmas
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