Annus mirabilis? New Zarzuela Recordings in 2024
When we speak of the zarzuela discography, the great Spanish opera singers of the second half of the 20th century
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The New “La Vie parisienne” from Palazzetto Bru Zane
Yesterday a long-awaited recording arrived on my desk-top. ‘Long-awaited’? Of course. The latest from the firm of Bru Zane, the
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The Story of Julian Eltinge: America’s Greatest Female Impersonator
It’s almost a quarter of a century ago that Laurence Senelick published his book The Changing Room: Sex, Drag and
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“Katharine Mehrling in Berlin” – The Promise of an Operetta Album to Come?
This week, Katharine Mehrling is back at Bar jeder Vernunft in Berlin with a program called 6 Nächte in Berlin,
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Unanswered Prayers: Gabrielle Heidelberger’s Operetta Recital
Here’s a recital album entitled multiple Joys that mixes—with full orchestra accompaniment—Bernstein’s “Somewhere” with “Ich lade gern mir Gäste ein”,
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“Disrupted by the Morality Police”: A New Book on Carl Millöcker
Martin Trageser has published a 150 page book on Carl Millöcker (1842-1899). We spoke with him about this project and
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Routlegde’s “Genre Beyond Borders: Reassessing Operetta”
Back in the year 2019, the University of Leeds hosted an conference put together by Derek B. Scott and Anastasia
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“For the Drama”: Strauss’ “Fledermaus” as Real-Life-Fiction on TV
This 3-part German mini-series called For the Drama is remarkable in many ways. It tells the story of two singers
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First Full Cast Recording of Gustave Kerker’s “The Belle of New York”
As everyone who’s currently watching season 2 of The Gilded Age knows: marriage in New York City among the super-rich
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The “Fake” Disney Princess: Diana Damrau Sings Operetta
So, here it is at last: Diana Damrau’s operetta album dedicated to the “life embracing side” of the genre and
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The Biography of Valtesse de la Bigne, Mistress of Paris
We’ve all read stories about the big players: Jacques Offenbach, Ludovic Halevy, Henri Meilhac, and certainly Napoleon III. But you
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Opera Rara’s New “La Princesse de Trébizonde”
Ever since that night so many years ago when I saw my first Offenbach (November 4, 1974, Hoffmanns Erzählungen, at
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It’s Finally Here: Karin Meesmann’s Biography of Paul Ábrahám
Anyone interested in Paul Ábrahám will have known – or will have heard – that Karin Meesmann has been working
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New Recording from Graz: Nico Dostal’s “Clivia” on cpo
Nico Dostal scored a hit with his Clivia when it premiered at Berlin’s Theater am Nollendorfplatz in December 1933, after
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Erstmals auf DVD: Benatzkys „Der reichste Mann der Welt“
In der Geschichte der deutschsprachigen Operette bedeutet die sogenannte Machtergreifung der Nationalsozialisten Anfang 1933 einen radikalen Einschnitt: Die bis dahin
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World Premiere Recording: Walter W. Goetze’s “Wenn Männer schwindeln”
The works of German pre-WW1 composers have only recently come back into focus again – as opposed to the better-known
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Wiener Operette, Moderne und kulturelle Viefalt: Moritz Csákys Essay in neuer Auflage
1996 erschien Moritz Csákys „kulturhistorischer Essay“ Ideologie der Operette und Wiener Moderne (Wien – Köln – Weimar: Böhlau). 2021 kam
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“Camelot” Returns With A New Broadway Cast Album
I have always liked 90 percent of Camelot. And 100 percent of its delicious source material. I am, yes, too
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The History of the Imperial Summer Theater in Bad Ischl
Teresa Hrdlicka has just published a 184-page book entitled Das kaiserliche Sommertheater in Bad Ischl: Operette und Oper unter Kaiser
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Rodgers & Hammerstein Revisited: “The King and I” & “South Pacific” on Jay Records
This morning I had an interesting package on my desktop. Complete recordings of The King and I (1994) and South
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Jacques Offenbach and the Making of Modern Culture: An Interview with Laurence Senelick
At long last someone has written a brand new Offenbach book – in English. And what’s even better, it’s a
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Paul Lincke’s “Frau Luna” – A Radio Recording from Cologne on CPO
There is no real shortage of Frau Luna recordings, the Paul Lincke classic from 1899 has always worked well as
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“Das ist die Berliner Luft”: Paul Lincke Overtures Volume 1
This newly issued 2020 recording from CPO has rarely been out of my CD player since it arrived: it is
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Berlin’s “Theater des Volkes”: The Dark Side of Germany’s Entertainment Industry
The history of Berliner Großes Schauspielhaus – birthplace of the great 1920s Eric Charell revues and especially of Im weißen
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“Offenbach, Musicien Européen” Or, Put Away the Sellotape
In the summer of 2019 researchers from all around the world gathered for a double conference in Cologne and Paris,
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First Full Recording of Suppé’s “Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen“ on Naxos
In recent years we have seen a splendid series of recordings brought forth – in England, France, Italy – of
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“Copyists and Pirates”: Jacobo Kaufmann’s Critique of Recent Offenbach Publications
The latest edition of The Jacques Offenbach Society Newsletter includes a letter from Jacobo Kaufmann to editor Donald Fox. Its
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“The Pleasure Garden“: The LGBT History of the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens as a Musical
Back in 2004, the Wien Museum presented the exhibition Alt-Wien: Die Stadt, die niemals war. It examined the phenomenon that
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Ernst Theis Conducts “Tonfilmschlager” from Nazi Times
“Can music be innocent?“ That‘s the first sentence in the booklet to this new CD of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and
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Opera Rara Set to Record Offenbach’s “La Princesse de Trébizonde”
The British record label Opera Rara returns to the works of Jacques Offenbach – for the first time since they
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Fly Me To The Moon: Kurt Kurt Gänzl reviews the new “Le Voyage dans la lune”
A new recording from Bru Zane? After their tremendous job with La Fille de Madame Angot, I am all agog.
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A Trip Back To The 1920s: Ben Zimmermann’s “Höchste Eisenbahn“ Album
This CD entitled Höchste Eisenbahn by actor Ben Zimmermann and pianist Mark McNeill is called a „Doku Revue der Goldenen
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“America in the French Imaginary” – A New Book That Sadly Forgets Operetta
“Music in Society and Culture” 1789-1914 we are informed on the cover of this new book. And then: “Following the
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Enrique Mejías García’s New Book “Offenbach, Composer of Zarzuelas”
Here’s great news: a new book on Offenbach is out! It is entitled Offenbach, Composer of Zarzuelas and has been
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“Zauber der Bohème” at New York’s Austrian Cultural Forum
Back in 2020, I covered a press conference announcing the launch of an exhibit in Vienna under the auspices of
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42nd Street: The First Complete Recording
I have just been on a very, very happy trip down memory boulevard. For a couple of years of my
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