“Swing tanzen verboten”: A Little Book On Operetta After 1933
It’s a small book, but full of interesting content: Swing tanzen verboten. Unterhaltungsmusik nach 1933 zwischen Widerstand, Propaganda und Vertreibung.
read moreIn Print
150 Years Gärtnerplatz Theater: An Illustrated History & Exhibition
Das Gärtnerplatztheater in München ist hundertfünfzig geworden. Gefeiert wurde das Jubiläum jedoch außerhalb, weil das Haus saniert wird. Ein vergrößerter
read more
Top 10 Hottest Operetta Hunks?
Sometimes you wonder why the opera world – of all possible spaces – can pull off such a stunt, but
read more
Race And Operetta: The Next Frontier?
It is often interesting to compare how researchers in different parts of the Western world look at art forms in
read more
Oscar Straus – Ein deutscher Offenbach?
Yes, there’s a new book on Oscar Straus, that often over-looked composer of Ein Walzertraum but also of Die lustigen
read more
Kunst der Oberfläche: Operette zwischen Bravour & Banalität
The Komische Oper Berlin – together with researchers Bettina Brandl-Risi and Clemens Risi – has put together a highly diverse
read more
The Big Operetta “Virgin Cherry Pop”: A New Study By Albert Gier
A great big new academic book on operetta, in German: Professor Albert Gier, renowned libretto researcher at the University of
read more
Hot Mikados and Swingin’ Pinafores: Stewart F. Lane’s “Black Broadway”
It’s not a new topic, but a brand new book nonetheless: Black Broadway by Stewart F. Lane. According to the
read more
Walter Felsenstein Revisited: A New Biography
Stage director Walter Felsenstein (1901-1975) is famous for various things: he founded the Komische Oper in East Berlin after WW2
read more
Arthur Schnitzler And His Operettas
Playwrite and author Arthur Schnitzler had a special relationship with music, not least, because many of his famous texts were
read more
Rare First Editions of Offenbach & Co.
Getting hold of scores – for operettas – has always been a challenge. Admittedly, the situation has become a lot
read more
Ethan Mordden’s New American Operetta History
Anyone who has walked into a bookshop in the USA recently will have noticed that Ethan Mordden’s attractively packaged Anything
read more
Uncool (And Proudly So): Mel Atkey’s “Breaking Into Song”
Mel Atkey’s new book Breaking Into Song has arrived: a collection of articles, essays and interviews from the past 35
read more
Charell & Bendow: Honored As Great Personalitites In Berlin’s History
Yes, it fills us with joy – and a little bit of pride too – that the brochure entitled Persönlichkeiten
read more
“In der Bar zum Krokodil”: Schlager-Music Exhibition
The exhibition is not exactly new, but it seems to be so successful that it is being passed around: In
read more
Glamour For Goebbels. Or: The First Sperm Donor Operetta In History
If you check the International Movie Data Base, you’ll find that the Nazi film operetta Liebespremiere (1943) is an adaptation
read more
Operation Fledermaus
Yes, it is somewhat unusual: a crime novel that is not directly set in the operetta world, but references that
read more
“Der Kongress Tanzt”: A New Exhibition At The Belvedere In Vienna
You all know that the Congress of Vienna in 1815 is the historical backdrop to quite a few famous operettas
read more
“Die schöne Helena” As A WW2 Drama Of Homosexuality
Considering that Offenbach’s La belle Hélène recently received two extremely “gay” interpretations at the opera houses of Hamburg and Berlin
read more
“Das Verdächtige Saxophon”: Albrecht Dümling’s Classic Re-Published
Finally: Albrecht Dümling’s great big book on music and operetta in Nazi times, Das verdächtige Saxophon, has been re-published. After
read more
The Man Behind “Die Fledermaus”: New Biography of Richard Genée
As the author of Die Fledermaus (1874) and a whole series of other famous Strauss operettas, Richard Genée is not
read more
Popular Musical Theatre In London And Berlin: 1890 To 1939
Here is something really yummy: a collection of essays dealing with various aspects of popular musical theater at the beginning
read more
“Inszenierte Moderne”: A New Study About Operetta, Musical Comedy And Revue
One of the most interesting young German scholars in the field of operetta research and examining the entertainment industry, Tobias
read more
Vera Kálmán: “Tonkunst” Issue Dedicated to Composer’s Widows
Here it is: the latest issue of Die Tonkunst. After a recent Bluebeard special that included a big essay on
read more
Two New Ábrahám Biographies
You could call it the battle of the biographers. Who will be first? Who will be better? Who will have
read more
Who Will Be The Savior of Operetta in the 21st Century: Volker Klotz Or Barrie Kosky?
This week-end, a new production of Offenbach’s La belle Hélène premieres at the Komische Oper Berlin. Its director, Barrie Kosky,
read more
Galgenhumor: An Interview About Nostalgia & World War 1
Two researchers from the Austrian Cabaret Archive (ÖKA), Iris Fink and Hans Veigl, have just published a 275 page book
read more
A Definitive Richard Tauber Biography?
You could have been fooled into thinking there cannot possibly be anything new to say on the topic of Richard
read more
A Vienna Heart in the Star-Spangled Banner: Bruno Granichstaedten
The Austrian music historian, film director and author Ernst Kaufmann has written a biography of his uncle – composer Bruno
read more
Let the Facts Speak for Themselves: A Novel Tauber Biography
Martin Sollfrank has written an exhaustive, 568 page biographical documentation entitled Musik war sein Leben: Richard Tauber – Weltstar des
read more
Vienna’s Merry Apocalypse
A little book dealing with the entertainment industry during the Great War: Galgenhumor. Kleine Kunst im Großen Krieg. Ein Beitrag
read more
Aspects of “Barbe-bleue”: Essays on Musical Theater Versions of the Bluebeard Legend
Here’s a brand-new bundle of essays on musical theater version of the Bluebeard legend, published in a special edition of
read more
Fritzi Massary Revisited: An Interview With Her New Biographer
Take a deep breath and prepare yourself: there will be – finally – a new and English language biography of
read more
Stefan Frey’s Biography of Emmerich Kálmán – in English
In 2003, Henschel Verlag of Berlin published Unter Tränen lachen, a German-language “operetta biography” of composer Emmerich Kálmán. The author,
read more
“The Funny He-She Ladies”: A New Book on Cross-Dressing in London
There is a new book by Neil McKenna about “Two Young Men Who Shocked Victorian England“ entitled Fanny & Stella.
read more
Did Leo Fall Suffer From Serious Drug Addiction?
It’s always a good time to pay attention to Leo Fall (1873-1925) because his operettas – Der fidele Bauer, Die
read more