“Im weißen Rössl” Revisited
Most Germans are familiar-very familiar-with the White Horse Inn. That’s because the film version starring Peter Alexander and Waltraud Haas
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At the Cross-Roads? A New “Bettelsstudent” from Mörbisch on DVD
As of 2013, the Austrian operetta festival in Mörbisch—near the Hungarian border—has a new director. Dagmar Schellenberger replaced Harald Serafin
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“Horrible Prettiness or Satanic Subversiveness”?
“Gender Studies” are something on everyone’s lips these days. Yet, somewhat surprisingly, the operetta world has hardly taken note of
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Going Up? The Music of Louis Hirsch
Never heard of Louis Hirsch (1881–1924) and his Broadway operettas? Well, we can change that easily. Because our friends at
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Essays On Kurt Weill’s Broadway Operetta
Here it is, fresh off the press: A German language collection of texts dealing with Kurt Weill’s only “operetta”, The
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Ivor Novello’s “Valley of Song” on CD
After a sell-out show in January 2014 by Tarquin Productions, the WestEnders are delighted to announce the launch of the original
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Piotr Beczala’s Tribute CD to Richard Tauber
There are two truly stunning moments on this new disc by tenor Piotr Beczala devoted to Richard Tauber. And not
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Her Soldier’s Boy: Young World War Heroes Laid Bare
Yes, it’s memorial time. You’ll remember that 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War 1. There
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One Touch of Venus: A Broadway Operetta
Yes, I know. Kurt Weill’s One Touch of Venus is generally considered a classic Broadway musical. And rightly so. Still,
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Cheyenne Jackson: A New Kind of Operetta Hero?
It doesn’t happy very often that a recording takes my breath away. But the new West Side Story from San Francisco—of
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Emily Soldene: In Search of a Singer
I don’t suppose the name means very much nowadays to anyone but a handful of music and theatre historians. Emily
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“Made in Berlin”: Otto Schneidereit Revisited
There’s a lot of talk, again, these days about „Operetta Made In Berlin”—how it differs from other German language types
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Lohengrin Meets Lloyd Webber
First off: I actually like Klaus Florian Vogt. Hearting him as Lohengrin and Stolzing in Wagner’s operas is a unique
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Offenbach’s “Orpheus” in Berlin
Am 18. Dezember 1983 erlebte die Deutsche Oper Berlin eine kleine Sternstunde heiteren Musiktheaters. In der dritten Spielzeit seiner Intendanz
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“Madame Pompadour”: Battle of the Divas
Needless to say, casting Leo Fall’s Madame Pompadour is not an easy task. Because there’s the overwhelming shadow of Fritzi
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MENSCHENsKIND: The Songs of Friedrich Holländer
Needless to say, German operetta fans already know her: the actress Dagmar Manzel dazzled audiences at Berlin’s Deutsches Schauspielhaus years
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Rodgers & Hart’s ‘Native Operetta’: A New “Dearest Enemy” Cast Album
Aye, you might very well ask: why is a recording of Rodgers & Hart’s “American Musical Comedy” Dearest Enemy coming
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Cross-Dressing in Operetta: A New Catalogue from Munich
Now, here’s a topic for a book publication to make our operetta hearts beat faster: Ein Bild von einem Mann
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“Orpheus in der Unterwelt” Live From Berlin 1984 – The Götz Friedrich Production On DVD
It’s a historic document, of a special kind: when the Deutsche Oper Berlin was the only opera company in good
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Maybe Art Imitates Arabs: “The Road to Qatar”
It all began with an email. “We want you write musical … how much?” Was my Spam blocker set on
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Gender, Genre & Parody
Quite simply put, this is the best book on Gilbert & Sullivan that I have come across. Not in a
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Burning to Sing: Gustave Kerker’s Operetta Rediscovered
It’s good to know that German operetta aficionados are busy rediscovering gems from the vaults of the genre’s history. And,
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Kálmán Gala from Dresden: Happy New Year
So here it is, the Emmerich Kálmán gala from Dresden’s Semperoper on CD. Christian Thielemann is conducting the forces of
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Operetten Over The Rainbow
Nacktes Fleisch, Frivolitäten, feminin-lamboyante Männer, »blasende Hirten«, selbstbewusste Frauen – die Operetten der 1920er und 1930er Jahre haben mit dem
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Das deutschsprachige Operettenlibretto: Figuren, Stoffe, Dramaturgie
2013 began with some major new publications. One is Heike Quissek’s PhD Das deutschsprachige Operettenlibretto: Figuren, Stoffe, Dramaturgie, written at
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“The Rose of Stambul” from the Chicago Folks Operetta
Of course, there have been many recordings of operetta in English before. There’s the famous Decca series featuring Kitty Carlisle,
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The Irish Have a Great Day Tonight: “Eileen” on New World Records
The Irish are always good for a song. Or so the saying goes. And Dublin-born Victor Herbert’s only “Irish” themed
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“Welt der Operette: Glamour, Stars und Showbusiness”
This big and lavishly illustrated coffee table book appears as a companion to an exhibition at the Österreichischer Theatermuseum in
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New Biography of Carl Millöcker – in English and German
One could call it revolutionary and decidedly up to date: a Viennese operetta biography published in English and (!) German,
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“Die Stumme Serenade”: Schmalz & Nostalgie
Er kan niet genoeg lof over de kleine labels afgestoken worden. Het is aan hen te danken dat wij eindelijk
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Welt der Operette: Glamour, Stars und Showbusiness
To coincide with the new exhibition at the Theater Museum Wien, the publishing house Brandstätter has released a dazzling new
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Hermann Leopoldi: The Complete Songs in Two Volumes
It’s a mile stone in operetta publishing, you might say: the Wiener Volksliederwerk (WVW) in cooperation with a whole list
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A New Leo Fall Biography
Fresh off the press: the Edition Steinbauer in Vienna published a new and illustrated biography of Leo Fall (1873-1925), beloved
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The Judy Garland Show: Volume 5
If anyone really wants to sample the full power of Judy Garland at her mature, late period best – a
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“Der König mit dem Regenschirm” mit Erik Ode: RIAS 1948
Um der Wahrheit die Ehre zu geben: Ich kannte von der Operette Der König mit dem Regenschirm mal gerade den
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New Benatzky Biography by Fritz Hennenberg
A new biography of White Horse Inn-composer Ralph Benatzky is out, written by Benatzky- (and Bertold Brecht-) expert Fritz Hennenberg.
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