Comments for Operetta Research Center

Comment on “Das ist die Berliner Luft”: Paul Lincke Overtures Volume 1 by Dylan

Dylan — Sat, 24 Oct 2026 04:53:21 +0000

Hi John, thank you for the article! Would you happen to know the names of the songs quoted throughout the overture of “Berliner Luft” or if that is indeed happening in the overture? It’s hard to come across the songs from that operetta and it seems to me that essentially all songs from that operetta are obscure except for the titular march and “Schenk mir doch ein kleines bißchen Liebe” which was also apparently added to “Frau Luna” in 1922.

Comment on Viktor JACOBI [JAKABFI]: b Budapest, 22 October 1883; d New York, 10 December 1921 by Susan Powell

Susan Powell — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:54:02 +0000

How sad…

Viktor was my great-uncle.

I wonder what a longer life would have produced?

Comment on Meeting With The Comic Opera Guild Of Michigan: A Conversation With Tom Petiet by (Dr.) Richard Moore

(Dr.) Richard Moore — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 13:12:54 +0000

Just to express appreciation for your work. I am a recently retired lecturer in music-theatre (everything from Grand Opera to Ragtime pieces) and have myself written several libretti. The latest is for an Offenbach-like treatment of the play ‘Kind Hearts and Coronets’ for which I have written the book and lyrics. No composer, alas, I had one of great melodic gift but he died at the age of under 40 – a great loss to his family and to music. I am now writing ‘The Tube Train Murders’, another comedy libretto and revising one I wrote pitching Miss Marple against Hercule Poirot. If you know of any interested composers, i’d be glad to hear from them (I live in the Scottish Highlands).Keep up the good work!

Comment on One Touch of Venus: A Broadway Operetta by Robert Hofmann

Robert Hofmann — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 14:04:04 +0000

I am looking for the sheet music of “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” for piano and voice in E flat minor in the same version that Christen Chenoweth, Mary Martin and Ute Lempe sing, Can you help me?

Comment on Can “Boccaccio” Still Shock? Bad Ischl Says No by Peter

Peter — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 20:46:36 +0000

What for me as operetta lover would be particularly interesting is whether Bad Ischl played the original version with the big pantomime which is never included (I know only one exception of a production in St. Gallen, Switzerland).
I sadly miss the discussion about original versions in this website anyway. Of a lot of very good operettas as Boccaccio, Madame Dubarry, Gasparone, etc. I miss (really) complete (uncut!) recordings in the original orchestration.
And I miss the discussion of this subject on this website.

Comment on Jeanette MacDonald (1901-1965): Hollywood’s Most Successful Soprano Star Of Celluloid Operetta by Leonardo Thierry

Leonardo Thierry — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 19:04:02 +0000

That’s how in spite of having been born in 1903, Miss Mac is sometimes said to have been born in 1901.

Comment on Jeanette MacDonald (1901-1965): Hollywood’s Most Successful Soprano Star Of Celluloid Operetta by Leonardo Thierry

Leonardo Thierry — Wed, 05 Aug 2026 18:59:14 +0000

Whenever an error occurs and a major star is said to have been born earlier than it was believed, nothing on Earth can stop the wrong birthyear to resurface here and there. To correct the midstake, people would have to bdelieve un the evidence supplied by documents. People hardly ever do that. That

Comment on Gilbert & Sullivan: Is Sexual Innuendo Imbedded in “HMS Pinafore”? by Laura Kennelly

Laura Kennelly — Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:13:57 +0000

Once thinking goes that way–what about that handle that was “polished up” so “carefully”—-hmm.

Comment on Lydia Thompson, the “Father of All Drag Kings”? by Sapphira

Sapphira — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:53:53 +0000

I am so impressed by the incredible Lydia Thompson. What a career and irrepressible drive she had traveling the world and become such a force.

Comment on F. C. Burnand’s “Ixion”: The Original British Burlesque Hit Of 1863 by Sapphira

Sapphira — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 11:49:02 +0000

Hello, This is a great article. Do you know if Queen Victoria would have seen Lydia Thompson? I am creating a timeline of the evolution of European burlesque and anywhere to access archives would be welcome.

Comment on Ethnic Exoticism & Chinese Stereotypes. Or: Lehár’s “Das Land des Lächelns” At The Mörbisch Summer Festival 2019 by Herzlich

Herzlich — Sun, 31 May 2026 21:52:36 +0000

Just came across this “review” and was saddened to see the regurgitation of so many trite points from the so-called progressive point of view. Shall we just go back and cancel any work of art or literature that doesn’t pass the virtue signallers’ smell test? These works are of their time and need to be seen as such.

But congratulations on the sneering condemnation of what used to be known as the Morbisch Operetta Festival. I see their last few seasons have featured much more politically correct and no doubt future classics like Mamma Mia and Saturday Night Fever: The Musical! Let’s hear it for operetta!

Comment on Adolf Philipp (1864-1936): “Deutsch-Amerikanisches Theater” In New York by IE

IE — Wed, 20 May 2026 19:06:52 +0000

@Eric Byron
A CD of Übern großen Teich by Adolph Philipp is available
Book supplement:::Music in German Immigrant Theater
New York City, 1840-1940