Latest Articles
“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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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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John Koegel: Music in German Immigrant Theater, New York City, 1840-1940
John Koegel reminds us, early on in this broadly conceived, superbly researched, and elegantly written study, that the population of
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Offenbach’s Gender-Bending “L’ile de Tulipatan” From New York
The Light Opera of New York (LOONY) shifted gears this spring from its annual early American operetta – usually by
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Sasha Regan’s All-Male “The Mikado” Touring The UK
Sasha Regan has been director of the Union Theatre in London for 19 years. It is a small space, seating
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World Premiere Recording: Kalman’s “Dryad’s Kiss”
One of Emmerich Kalman’s great musical idols was George Gershwin whom he entertained in Vienna in 1928, after they both
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A History Of Popular Musical Theater In Dresden, 1844 Until Today
The Staatsoperette Dresden has been – for many years – one of the few theaters in Germany, before and after
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Philadelphia Debut Of “The Dollar Princess” By Leo Fall
It’s always astonishing that American audiences never really fell for operettas with stories actually set in the USA. It seems
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“Eine Nacht in Venedig” At The Pforzheim Theater
The industrial town of Pforzheim boasts a population of under 121,000, yet has an intimate 507 seat modern theatre which
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“A Trip To Africa”: Franz von Suppé’s Oriental Operetta In English
It’s quite a miracle: a full cast album of Franz von Suppé’s exotic Die Afrikareise, recorded live and in an
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BABES IN TOYLAND: Musical extravaganza by Victor Herbert
Commissioned by producers Julian Mitchell and Fred Hamlin to follow up their 1902 success with the fairytale spectacular The Wizard
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“Eileen” At The Victor Herbert Renaissance Projekt Live!
The third time was most definitely the charm for VHRP’s Artistic Director Alyce Mott’s revision of Victor Herbert and lyricist/book
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Tenor Endrik Wottrich Dead At 53
Most operetta fans will remember Berlin-based tenor Endrik Wottrich because he sings the male lead in Kalman’s Die Herzogin von
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Strauss’s “Spitzentuch der Königin” At Opera della Luna 2017
An interview with Jeff Clarke, artistic director of Opera della Luna, about the company’s planned new production of Johann Strauss’s
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Kelli O’Hara Stars In “Babes In Toyland” Performance At Carnegie Hall
MasterVoices’ semi-staged concert version of Victor Herbert’s 1903 extravaganza Babes in Toyland – written originally as a follow-up to the
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“Operette für zwei schwule Tenöre”
As everyone knows, operetta in its original form was a very liberated art form, in terms of sexual politics. And
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Desirée Nick: Blandine Ebinger Reloaded
Dass Desirée Nick eine überlebensgroße Glamourpersönlichkeit ist, die sich im Dschungel, Big-Brother-Container und im Notfall auch auf der Opernbühne mit
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Re-Visiting The Villas Of Bad Ischl: Marie-Theres Arnbom’s New Book
Anyone who is even remotely interested in the history of German language operetta knows that Bad Ischl – a kind
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A New Biogragphy Of Charles Amberg – Lyricist Of “Clivia”
Charles Amberg (1894-1946) is not exactly a household name today, and even dedicated operetta fans will be hard pressed to
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The Unveiling Of The Imre Kálmán Theater With “The Riviera Girl”
On Nagymezó, the historic theatre street of Budapest, a bronze statue of operetta composer Emmerich Kálmán sits on the end
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Peter Minich At St. Pölten’s Stadtmuseum: “Ein Leben für die Musik”
For many operetta lovers, Austrian tenor and Volksoper star Peter Minich, is an icon. He certainly represents a very particular
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The Memoires of Gerd Natschinski. Or: Whatever Happened To DDR Operettas?
It’s a sad fact that the West-German publishers Schott and Bärenreiter – who took over the performance material for many
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A New “Fledermaus” With Annette Dasch at Deutsche Oper Berlin
Performing operetta in big opera houses is often not an easy task – because the intimacy is easily lost, and
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“Csardasfürstin” In Magdeburg With A New “Killer Ending”
Perhaps it was only a matter of time before someone hired choreographer Otto Pichler to stage an operetta all by
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Offenbach’s “Ritter Blaubart” Returns: The New Operetta Season At Komische Oper
Berlin’s Komische Oper and its artistic director Barrie Kosky are always good for a surprise, most certainly when it comes
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Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Patience” At English Touring Opera
The ‘comic opera’ Patience (or ‘Bunthorne’s Bride’) has an important place in theatrical history. It was the first stage production
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“Son Of Ireland”: Victor Herbert Concert In New York
St. Patrick’s Day came a little early this year, courtesy of the always rewarding Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! Anyone
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An Overdose Of Nostalgia: The Arthaus TV Operetta Series
Can this really be happening, is Arthaus-Unitel seriously re-issuing all of these old TV operetta adaptations from the early 1970s
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Benatzky’s “Liebe im Schnee” With The Kammeroperette Münster
The so called Kammeroperette Münster specialises in staging “minimalist” productions of neglected operettas: this year one of Benatzky’s first full-length
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“Son of Dublin”: An Irish-American Victor Herbert Concert
The “All Irish” season of the Victor Herbert Renaissance Project Live! continues with a concert of music by Victor Herbert
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A New “Student Prince” With John Mauceri
This CD could probably only be released for a German market and for German operetta fans who have no idea
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“Voici le sabre de mon père”: Offenbach’s “Grand Duchess” In Kassel
The industrial city of Kassel in middle-Germany boasts a modern, superbly designed 900 seat theatre with a large stage and
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Club Of Sperm Drinkers? “Die Fledermaus” At Neuköllner Oper
Did you think you’d ever see the day that the eternally popular Fledermaus would return to its pornographic roots? Admittedly,
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