Latest Articles
“Nothing More Than This?”: Bernstein’s “Candide” as Existential Vaudeville in Barrie Kosky’s Berlin Production
Imagine a world that persistently rewards the rich and powerful while immiserating the masses. Imagine an international paternalist cartel that
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Rediscovered: The Viennese Nestroy/Binder Version of “Orpheus in der Unterwelt” (1860)
The double jubilee of Jacques Offenbach’s and Franz von Suppé’s 200th birthdays in 2019 has prompted the Wienbibliothek in Rathaus
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Emmerich Kálmán’s “Ein Herbstmanöver” From Gießen With Michael Hofstetter
“The Gay Hussars”? I admit, the title of the 1909 Broadway version of Emmerich Kalman’s first operetta hit Tatájárás caught
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Joseph Beer’s “Polnische Hochzeit” at Oper Graz: Simply Superb!
Austrian-Jewish composer Joseph Beer’s operetta Polnische Hochzeit (‘Polish Wedding’) received its premiere in Zurich in 1937: it was quickly translated
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Pasquale Aleardi & The Power Of Anti-Depressant Music
“Shake your banana!” At the table in front of me, six women screamed this internally even when Pasquale Aleardi was
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Lehár’s “Juxheirat” Or: “The Mock Marriage” In Santa Barbara
First, I learned that Michael and Nan Miller had bequeathed their extraordinary Operetta Archive to the University of California at
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New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players: “Ages Ago” & “Mr. Jericho”
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players’s inspired pairing of two Victorian one-act comic operas – Ages Ago and Mr. Jericho
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Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live: “Falling in Love For 160 Years”
VHRP Live’s love-themed concert may have been the company’s best yet, not forgetting such earlier gems as Son of Dublin
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“Die Prinzessin von Trapezunt” in Hildesheim: Ist das Operette 4.0?
So viel vorweg: Dass in Hildesheim Offenbachs einstiger Sensationserfolg Die Prinzessin von Trapezunt (1869) nach Jahrzehnten des Vergessens wieder auf
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“Zur Geburt der Wiener Operette: Musikalische und historische Wurzeln. Heute – Reminiszenz oder Aktualität?”
For 2019, the Wiener Institut für Strauss-Forschung (WISF) is offering a three-day operetta ‘special‘ that‘s entitled Zur Geburt der Wiener
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Berlin’s Entertainment Industry In The 1920s As Seen By Willy Römer & On Sheet Music Covers
Tea might be the only simple pleasure left to us, as Oscar Wilde once remarked. But you need to be
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Google Search: “What is Operetta?” And “Is The Phantom of the Opera an Operetta?”
The Operetta Research Centre was, this week, undergoing technical maintenance, in the course of which supremo Kevin Clarke came up
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‘Babylon Berlin’: A Philharmonic Discourse with Florian Illies, Manfred Görtemaker And Tilman Krause
Ah yes, the Weimar Republic. Again? While the Museum für Fotografie in Berlin is currently showing a marvelous exhibition on
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“Oyayaye, ou la Reine des Îles” And “Pomme d’api” At Kammerspiele München
The Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich celebrates the 200th birthday of Jacques Offenbach with a performance of two rarities: Oyayaye, ou
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What Is The Best “Fledermaus” On Disc?
Ah yes, another Fledermaus recording. As if there aren’t enough already, right? Well, actually, this one from the NDR Radiophilharmonie
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A Franz von Suppé Biography In French By José-Luis Munoz
Be careful what you wish for, says the old adage. You may get it … and in spades! Forty years
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The Ingeborg Hallstein Exorcism: “Frau Luna” Revived At Tipi Am Kanzleramt
It’s a brief moment, but it is pure magic. And it elevates an already magical evening to an outstanding event
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“Offenbachiades” And Their Context: A New Study By Peter Hawig
Let’s start this review backwards, shall we? The last sentence in Peter Hawig’s new book for the Offenbach bicentenary is:
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Hervé‘s “Mam’zelle Nitouche” In Lausanne With Palazzetto Bru Zane
He was six years younger than Jacques Offenbach and survived him by eleven years. And just like Offenbach, he can
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“The Dancing Years”: A Converation with David Slattery-Christy About Ivor Novello, Nazi History And New Recordings
Ivor Novello’s World War 2 hit The Dancing Years has finally been made available in a ‘first complete recording’ by
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“Dorothy” By Alfred Cellier: World Premiere Recording
Before the building of railways into London from the rest of south-east England in the third quarter of the nineteenth
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“Frau Luna” And The Budapester Luft: The Berlin ‘National’ Operetta Vs. The Hungarian National Operetta’
Mind the apostrophes! The recent revival of Paul Lincke’s Frau Luna at Tipi am Kanzleramt is a firm reference point
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“A Re-Evaluation of Operetta”: A Conference At The University Of Leeds
Last week the international operetta research world gathered in Leeds for a conference which was – nothing short of remarkable!
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Thank Heaven for Little Girls: André Messager’s “Les p’tites Michu” On Palazzetto Bru Zane
Nature or nurture – that’s the central question in this charming social experiment operetta in three acts by André Messager.
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Ábrahám’s “Märchen im Grand-Hotel” In Mainz
After having had great success in Berlin with three operettas on a very grand scale – Viktoria und ihr Husar
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The History of Jacques Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde”
Originally produced at Baden-Baden during the 1869 summer season, with the young Mdlle Périer in its principal travesty rôle, La
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Offenbach’s “Oyayïae, ou La Reine des îles” At Cologne’s New Year’s Concert
To mark the occasion, the city of Cologne and the local Gürzenich Orchestra inaugurate the festivities for Offenbach’s 200th birthday
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Jonas Kaufmann And Franz Welser-Möst Present “Die Fledermaus” In Dresden
Does the world really need another Fledermaus recording? Absolutely, yes! There are many glorious versions available already with singularly good
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Offenbach’s “Black Venus”, Or: Examining “La Belle Hélène” As An Intersection Of Race And Operetta
Sometimes you read an operetta essay that deeply disturbs you – not because it is badly written or full of
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An “Offenbach Family Album” and “Esther, Queen of Persia”: Interview With Ralf-Olivier Schwarz
For the 2019 Offenbach celebrations the city of Cologne has set up a special committee to organize an “Offenbach Year”
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A Certain Disco Feeling: Offenbach’s “Die Schöne Helena” With UdK Students In Berlin
No, it wasn’t public, and yes, it was only a one-off performance with a preceding dress rehearsal. There were invited
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“Jacques Offenbach – Meister des Vergnügens”: Ein Interview mit Heiko Schon
Große Ereignisse werfen ihre Schatten voraus, und so sind im Vorfeld des 200. Offenbach-Geburtstags 2019 mehrere neue Bücher auf den
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Kálmán’s “Kaiserin Josephine” (1936) On CPO: Live From The Léhar Festival in Ischl
Kálmán composed Kaiserin Josephine after his ‘regular’ first night theater, the Theater an der Wien, had gone bankrupt as a
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s “Das Lied der Liebe” From Leipzig
You know it’s Korngold alright from the very first bars: it’s an explosion of sound, hyper-intense like the opening of
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Offenbach’s “Robinson Crusoe” At The Royal College Of Music
“The Offenbach bi-centenary is being virtually ignored by opera companies in the United Kingdom, so all credit to the Royal
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Ivor Novello’s “The Dancing Years”: The First Complete Recording
The effect of Ivor Novello’s music on me was immediate: I remember the first time I heard his songs on
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