Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl, age 97

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl, age 97
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 02:11 PM

I trust that that is not an unkind statement Ms Squeak?

L n C#

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl, age 97
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 10:52 AM

Les, I think you'll find they're pronouncing their C's in a funny fashion....

LTS

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl, age 97
From: Les in Chorlton
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 09:27 AM

A bit odd that, about 6 people got up at Chorlton Folk Club last night, introduced as The von Trapp Family and sang Drunken Sailor! Maybe not the original von Trapps then?

L in C#

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl, age 97
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 09:15 AM

That is sad news, although at 97, not unexpected.   A brave woman from a brave family who gave up so much of their young lives to live in freedom.

I have a very scratchy recording of the real Von Trapp family singers singing 'Stille Nacht' which makes me think of the 1914 Christmas truce in the trenches whenever I hear it. It is a carol that has, in its simplicity, survived the complications and intricacies of war, tyrany and despotism. I'm rather glad now that on Wednesday, in the Ritz hotel, surrounded by all that sumptuous glory and riches, reeking of empire and privilege, my choir sang it... had I known of her death then, it could not have moved me more...

LTS

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: Acorn4
Date: 31 Dec 10 - 04:45 AM

The Austrian navy isn't as unlikely as it sounds, because of course it would refer to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which controlled large coastal areas until the Treaty of St Germain after the Great War.

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: open mike
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 08:39 PM

These songs were and are familiar to many in my generation...
and Favorite Things is often heard around Christmas Time.

1. The Sound of Music
2. Maria
3. My Favorite Things
4. Do-Re-Mi
5. Sixteen Going On Seventeen
6. The Lonely Goatheard
7. Climb Ev'ry Mountain
8. So Long, Farewell
9. Edelweiss
10. I Have Confidence
11. Something Good

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: open mike
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 08:28 PM

this link might be hoakie (sp?) as it is a travel company who do tours of Salzburg, but it looks like it has some interesting background info on the book, the movie, the family and the history.
http://www.sound-of-music.com/

Memories of the movie, This reminds me I should encourage my children and grandchildren to see the Sound of Music.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/12/30/agathe.von.trapp.obit/

(interesting how the post above stretches beyond the borders of the page and you need to scroll to the right to see the all lines..)

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 08:22 PM

Agatha would have been about 25 in 1938 at the time of the Austrian annexation. It seems that several of her siblings would have been in their early 20's at that time as well. Broadway and Hollywood never would let the truth interfere with a story. There was some great music though and the film had some fantastic scenery.
This copied from Wikipedia:
Historical accuracy

Both the musical and the film present a history of the von Trapp family, albeit one that is not completely accurate. The following depicts the differences between historical accuracy and the dramatic license taken by the filmmakers:
Georg Ludwig von Trapp was indeed anti-Nazi, and did in fact live with his family in a villa in a district of Salzburg called Aigen, however the palace depicted in the film is a great exaggeration of their actual living situation.
Originally, Maria had been hired only to be a governess to young Maria, named Louisa in the movie, who had come down with scarlet fever and needed her lessons at home.
Maria and Georg had been married 10 years before the Anschluss and had two of their three children before that time.
Unlike in the film, Georg had considered a position in the Kriegsmarine but ultimately did decide to emigrate with his family to Italy to go on yet another singing tour.[5] The captain was 58 years old in 1938, had not been in a submarine since 1918, and was not being pursued by the Nazi government.
The Anschluss occurred in March, however the Salzburg Music Festival is held in June, therefore the family could not have piggybacked their festival performance into an escape before the borders closed.
The bell cord on the real Nonnberg Abbey is strictly a prop and rings nothing, however the Abbey liked it anyway and requested it be left by the film crew.
While the film shows the von Trapp family hiking over the Alps from Austria to Switzerland, from Salzburg this is impossible. Salzburg is only a few kilometres away from the Austrian–German border and is much too far from either the Swiss or Italian borders for a family to escape by walking. Had the von Trapps hiked over the mountains they would have in all likelihood ended up in Germany near the Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden.
Georg von Trapp was born in the Austrian city of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia). Since this town became - as an enclave - part of Italy after WWI, he was considered an Italian citizen and therefore, so were all his family, including Maria. Therefore, all they really had to do was walk to the local train station and board the next train to Italy, from which they traveled to London and ultimately the United States.[5]
The genders of the two oldest children were swapped around, thus Friedrich (the second oldest in The Sound of Music) was based on Rupert (the oldest of the real von Trapp children), whereas Liesl (the oldest) was based on Agathe von Trapp, the second oldest and the oldest daughter. In addition to this, the names and ages of the children were changed, partly because the second-oldest daughter (who would be portrayed as "Louisa") was also named Maria.
Although the film does not recount an entirely accurate story of the family, it was filmed at original locations in the city and county of Salzburg and Upper Austria, including Nonnberg Abbey, and St. Peter cemetery. Leopoldskron Palace, Frohnburg Palace, and Hellbrunn Palace were some of the locations used for the Trapp Villa in the film.
The opening scene and aerial shots were filmed in Anif (Anif Palace), Mondsee, and Salzkammergut (Fuschl am See, St. Gilgen and Saint Wolfgang).[6]
Hohenwerfen Castle served as the main backdrop for the song "Do-Re-Mi." At the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg, Maria and the children sing "Do-Re-Mi", dancing around the Horse fountain and using the steps as a musical scale.

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: meself
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 07:10 PM

Oh!

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: GUEST,Hilary
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 07:05 PM

No, the captain also had a daughter named Maria in real life.

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: meself
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 09:35 AM

Okay, so sixteen-going-on-seventeen Liesl/Agathe was actually older than Maria? No wonder she wasn't thrilled with the new governess ....

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 03:16 AM

Goodbye Liesl. I loved you when I was sixteen-going-on-seventeen. Sleep in peace. The rest of the obit is interesting too - if you scroll down to the very bottom there are links to some other articles about her. In case this disappears from that news page:

-

Agathe, a guitarist, was represented in the film by 16-going-on-17 Liesl, played by Charmian Carr. But Agathe was far more reserved than the outgoing Liesl, Kane said.

Although Agathe admired the movie, she felt it misrepresented her father as too strict and not as the loving, caring parent he was, Kane said.

"She cried when she first saw it because of the way they portrayed him," Kane said. "She said that if it had been about another family she would have loved it."

Von Trapp wrote her memoir, "Memories Before and After The Sound of Music," published in September by Harper Paperbacks, to set the record straight, Kane said.

Johannes von Trapp, the youngest of the children, said Agathe was a private person who also was a talented sketch artist.

He said she will be buried in the spring at a cemetery at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.

Agathe's death leaves four surviving members of the Trapp Family Singers: Maria von Trapp, 96; Rosmarie von Trapp, 81; Elenore "Lorli" von Trapp Campbell, 79; and Johannes, 71.




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Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: Haruo
Date: 30 Dec 10 - 02:06 AM

"Austrian naval Capt." always makes me think of "The Swiss Navy".

Subject: RE: Obit: Agatha von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 09:18 PM

Nice to read that her real-life father was a warmer man than in the film.

Subject: Obit: Agathe von Trapp, oldest Trapp girl
From: Amos
Date: 29 Dec 10 - 07:25 PM

The New York Daily News reports on the death of Agathe von Trapp, eldest daughter of the Trapp family who were made famous by The Sound of Music.

"Agathe von Trapp, a member of the musical family whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for "The Sound of Music," has died, a longtime friend said Wednesday.

Von Trapp, 97, died Tuesday at a hospice in the Baltimore suburb of Towson after suffering congestive heart failure in November, said Mary Louise Kane. Kane and von Trapp lived together for five decades and ran a kindergarten at the Sacred Heart Catholic parish in nearby Glyndon until 1993.

Von Trapp was the oldest daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg Ritter von Trapp. His seven children by his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, were the basis for the singing family in the 1959 play and 1965 film, which won the Oscar for best picture.

The widowed captain had three more children with his second wife, Maria Augusta Kutschera. They performed together as the Trapp Family Singers."