Latest Articles
Two Important New Books: Barbara Denscher’s Victor Léon Biography & Matthias Kauffmann’s “Operette im Dritten Reich”
Has operetta research shifted gear? One could think so, considering that there are finally in-depth academic studies coming out that
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Les chevaliers du Ciel: Das Neuköllnical “Fly, Edith, Fly” im BKA
Ja, es gibt Menschen die Dragqueens als Wegbereiterinnen des modernen queeren Lebens sehen und damit auch als Vorkämpferinnen einer offeneren
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The Recording Of Edward German’s “Tom Jones” On Naxos
I really don’t listen much, these days, to show recordings. Especially new recordings of my beloved older shows. Those, in
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Sensationell: Sophia Euskirchen als Sally Bowles
Ja, dieser Auftritt der neuen Sally-Bowles-Darstellerin im Berliner Tipi-Zelt am Kanzleramt ist vergleichbar mit einem Blitzeinschlag – der mit gleißendem
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Kálmán’s “Herzogin von Chicago” At The Deutsches Theater Munich
I have just seen the much-heralded Budapest Operetta Theatre’s re-imagining of Kálmán’s 1928 musical mashup, Die Herzogin von Chicago, at
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Bring On The (1860s) Dancing Girls
Today I got led (via my blonde burlesque ladies) into the world of the ‘spectacular theatre’. You know, those shows
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The Emmerich Kalman Research Center. Plus: Yvonne Kalman’s 80th Birthday Gala
It was a dazzling party: Yvonne Kalman celebrated her 80th birthday last week-end in Budapest as a big gala event,
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“The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief”: First UK Revival Since 1937 At Opera della Luna
Opera della Luna is a well-established company, specializing in small-scale touring productions of operetta. Having concentrated on Offenbach and Sullivan
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“Darwinian Man, Though Well Behaved, At Best Is Only A Monkey Shaved”: G&S’s “Princess Ida”
Great Malvern is an attractive spa town of 30,000 souls, nestling in the English Midlands and surrounded by the Malvern
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“Like Rheingold, But With More Tunes”: Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” At The National Theatre
There are a few ‘musicals’ written in the last seventy years which, because of both the specific quality of their
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Trying To Avoid The Same Old Superlatives: The 2017 Ohio Light Opera Season
Writing these annual roundups of Ohio Light Opera’s summer festival – run with consistent panache by Artistic Director Steven Daigle
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Pop Art Meets Carl Zeller: “Der Vogelhändler” From The 2017 Mörbisch Festival
You could call this year’s Vogelhändler at the Mörbisch Festival a kick-ass production – or an erect middle-finger in the
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Sigrid Grajek Revives Claire Waldoff Repertoire
Die Wirkungsgeschichte von Ikonen folgt eigenen Maßstäben. Und die von Claire Waldoff ganz besonders. Denn die Lieder und Aufnahmen der
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Christian Miebach: Singing “Csardasfürstin” In Rüdersdorf And At The Wedding Of Manuel Neuer
This dashing young musical comedy guy, born 1990 in Germany’s Black Forrest region near Karlsruhe, just ventured far into “enemy
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The Kern-Wodehouse-Bolton Musical “Have a Heart” (1917)
Although they worked together as a trio on only five shows over seven years, the influence of “Bolton, Wodehouse, and
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24th International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival
The 860 seat Theatre Royal, in the shadow of Windsor Castle, is the third one on the site: built in
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How Do You Solve A Problem Like “Saison in Salzburg”? The New Production In Ischl
The Lehár Festival in Ischl just presented a new production of Fred Raymond’s Saison in Salzburg – as a colorful
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Jerome Kern’s “Have A Heart” From The Ohio Light Opera
If we go back in time 100 years and look at Broadway, we witness a change: the US entertainment market
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“Orpheus in der Unterwelt” At The New Staatsoperette Dresden
The Staatsoperette Dresden has recently moved into a new, much-needed, purpose built theatre in the centre of the city. The
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Lehár’s “Der Graf von Luxemburg”: Live-Recording From Frankfurt With Amazing Conductor
Early Lehár operetta seems to be en vogue this season, on record at least. Here is a new release on
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Hunky Pin-Up Guys in Young Vic’s “HMS Pinafore”
Who says that Gilbert & Sullivan can’t be sexy? (Certainly no-one here at the Operetta Research Center.) “The Young Victorian
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A Hungarian Errol Flynn: “Der Zigeunerbaron” In Neustrelitz
Every summer since 2001, Theater und Orchester Neubrandenburg has staged an open-air operetta production in the Schlossgarten, Neustrelitz. Which, for
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Daring To Be Different: Lehár’s “Die Juxheirat” On CPO
Viennese operetta at the beginning of the 20th century was a genre in transition, claims Stefan Frey in an essay
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Lehár’s New “Graf von Luxemburg” On OEHMS Classics
If you grew up as a kid in Germany, you probably learned early from a famous TV program to always
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Interview With Mr. Barihunks: The Beefcake Side Of Oper(ett)a
In 2007, a music manager in the US started a blog called Barihunks, dedicated to hunky baritones. Over the years,
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Kálmán Forever: Hungarian Operetta Exhibition In Moscow
The Hungarian Herman Ottó Muzeum has announced that it has debuted in Moscow with a solo exhibition. At the end
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Oozing Sex: Julia Baron, Opéra-Bouffe Star And Top Paris Courtesan
When I lived in St Paul de Vence, my partner Ian and I took a weekly bus jaunt down to
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Double-Exhibition on “Zigeunerbaron” And Johann Strauss In Neustrelitz
The open air operetta festival in Neustrelitz – an hour north of Berlin by train – has Strauss’ Zigeunerbaron on
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Racist Minstrel Magic? The Story of the George Mitchell Choirs
A seventy-one year old man, a little crippled these days, lying in the too-scorching sun by the Australian seaside, reading
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The History Of A Burlesque Blonde: Belle Land
Last night, I was researching in ancient texts, trying to track down the history of a burlesque blonde who went
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“The Swan Song Operetta” In Berlin-Kreuzberg
The Swan Song Operetta was developed and performed over eight years. This summer it will flower into its unabridged self
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Oscar Straus: Avant-propos
Il n’est guère de compositeur du vingtième siècle qui ait été jadis aussi fêté de part et d’autre de l’Atlantique
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Oscar Straus: New Academic Essays On A Mostly Forgotten Composer
Oscar Straus (1870-1954) is one of the leading operetta composers of the first half of the 20th century whose greatest
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First Modern Recording of Franz Lehár’s Feminist “Die Juxheirat”
Julius Bauer (1854-1941) was, like many Viennese operetta librettists, a highly cultured and witty man. He studied medicine and then
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Totally Cool? The New Operetta Season In Baden Bei Wien
The luxurious little spa town Baden bei Wien – 45 minutes from the center of Vienna by tram – considers
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A New Monography On Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld”
For many operetta fans, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underword is the masterpiece with which it all began, back in 1858.
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