How Big Is The Stretch From “Fosse/Verdon” And “Judy” To A TV-Series About Erik Charell And Fritzi Massary?
As I sit watching the current TV series Fosse/Verdon, starring Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams as two show business legends,
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“Oh… Rosalinda!”: The Movie Version of “Die Fledermaus” With Adolf Wohlbrück On DVD
Finally – and that’s really the only appropriate word for it: finally the updated 1950s movie version of Die Fledermaus,
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Franz von Suppé – das verdrängte Genie: Zum 200. Geburtstag des Komponisten
Franz von Suppé – das sind ein paar wenige Ouverturen, die man heute noch spielt, seltener in Konzerten, wo leider
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Rediscovered: The Viennese Nestroy/Binder Version of “Orpheus in der Unterwelt” (1860)
The double jubilee of Jacques Offenbach’s and Franz von Suppé’s 200th birthdays in 2019 has prompted the Wienbibliothek in Rathaus
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“Zur Geburt der Wiener Operette: Musikalische und historische Wurzeln. Heute – Reminiszenz oder Aktualität?”
For 2019, the Wiener Institut für Strauss-Forschung (WISF) is offering a three-day operetta ‘special‘ that‘s entitled Zur Geburt der Wiener
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Berlin Babylon. Or: A New “Die Tote Stadt” at Komische Oper By Robert Carson
Is Korngold’s 1920 psycho thriller Die tote Stadt an operetta? Obviously not, but there are various links to the genre,
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Johann Strauss’s “Aschenbrödel” (1899): A Modern-Day Cinderella Story Conducted By Ernst Theis
It’s not exactly a secret that Johann Strauss was a great dance music composer. Before he turned to operetta in
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A Season Full Of Surprises: New Productions in 2018/19 Of Strauss, Offenbach, Beer And Jessel
It’s this time of year when theaters around Germany and Austria are advertising their upcoming productions for the 2018/19 season.
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Dance: The Secret Star Of Operetta? Giorgio Madia’s Two New Strauss Productions
It is astonishing that one of the main elements of almost every operetta – dance! – is so undervalued today.
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The Three Lives of Jetty Treffz, First Wife of Johann Strauss: A New Biography By Peter Sommeregger
Here it is, finally: a full biography of Jetty Treffz (1818-1878), first wife of Johann Strauss and responsible for bringing
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Kinky Boots? Kurt Gänzl Talks About 19th Century Operetta
Kurt Gänzl is no stranger to readers of these pages. As the author of The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre
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Annette Dasch As Horror Diva. Or: A First Class Operetta Execution. “Fledermaus” In Berlin
No, it’s not exactly news that there are – and always have been – multiple audiences for operetta. And they
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Adonises Of Silver Operetta? Or: A Re-Encounter With Adolf Wohlbrück
There is a Facebook group out there called Adonises of the Silver Screen. It offers amazing photos of and anecdotes
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E. A. Dupont’s “Das alte Gesetz”. Or: What #MeToo Has To Do With Operetta And Offenbach
When we talk about popular musical theater our modern focus is mostly on the ‘artistic’ values of individual shows, e.g.
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Sloppy Production With A Great Tenor: “Eine Nacht in Venedig” At Volksoper Wien
Musically, Vienna Volksoper’s 2013 production of Strauss’ Eine Nacht in Venedig has much to commend it: firstly the spirited conducting
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Johann Strauss’ moderne “Journalisten-Operetten”: “Fürstin Ninetta” & “Waldmeister”
Nach der Uraufführung von Fürstin Ninetta am 10. Jänner 1893 schrieb die Tageszeitung Die Presse: „Die Musik der Operette ist
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A 15 Year Old “Fledermaus” At Semperoper Dresden: Is Johann Strauss Beneath Them?
Dresden’s Fledermaus production is 15 years old and the performance I attended was its 90th outing. It is a very
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“The Queen’s Lace Handkerchief”: First UK Revival Since 1937 At Opera della Luna
Opera della Luna is a well-established company, specializing in small-scale touring productions of operetta. Having concentrated on Offenbach and Sullivan
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A Hungarian Errol Flynn: “Der Zigeunerbaron” In Neustrelitz
Every summer since 2001, Theater und Orchester Neubrandenburg has staged an open-air operetta production in the Schlossgarten, Neustrelitz. Which, for
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Double-Exhibition on “Zigeunerbaron” And Johann Strauss In Neustrelitz
The open air operetta festival in Neustrelitz – an hour north of Berlin by train – has Strauss’ Zigeunerbaron on
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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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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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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 “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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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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Viennese Operetta Gems 1927-1949: A Classic Naxos Compilation
Any operetta compilation that starts with Charles Kullmann singing “Als flotter Geist, doch früh verwaist” like this has my immediate
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“Sex in Vienna”: New Exhibition At The Wien Museum Explores Forgotten Aspects Of Operetta History
We admit, in many ways the year 2016 hasn’t exactly been “good news” all around. Yet, from an operetta perspective
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“An Autumn Trilogy”: The Budapest Operetta Theater In Ravenna
Ravenna in Northern Italy is famous for many things: it was the capital of the Western Roman Empire from 402
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From Operetta To The Russian Hit Parades: Paul Hankinson & Fiora
Not so very many years ago, two young students, already laurelled, each one, with considerable success, entered the Queensland Conservatorium
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“Stars Of David”: The Influence Of Jewish Artists On Popular Music
It’s not every day that you get to see images of Jacques Offenbach, Johann Strauss Jr. and Richard Tauber right
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Nikolaus Harnoncourt Dead: What’s His Operetta Legacy?
For many people in the classical music world, the name of Nikolaus Harnoncourt is almost sacred. The conductor who died
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Vienna’s New Year’s Concert: Using Johann Strauss As A PR-Tool For Tourism
How could we get through January 1st without the obligatory New Year’s Concert from Vienna? The 2016 edition was conducted
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Das Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker: Angst vor der Nazi-Vergangenheit?
Am 1. Januar 2016 wird das kommerziell erfolgreiche Neujahrskonzert der Wiener Philharmoniker im Großen „goldenen“ Saal des Musikvereinsals „75-jähriges Jubiläum“
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Operette in Wien in den Jahren 1938 bis 1944: Eine Bestandsaufnahme
Am 12. März 1938 nachmittags hatten sich in der Wohnung des Dramaturgen und Regisseurs Kurt Hellmer in Naschmarktnähe ein paar
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“The Golden Bride” At The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene
This meticulous reconstruction of composer Joseph Rumshinsky’s 1923 operetta Di Goldene Kale (“The Golden Bride”) may well be the most
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Elisabeth Schwarzkopf At 100: “Komm’ mit mir ins Chambre separée”
Today, soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf would have celebrated her 100th birthday. That’s a perfect occasion to remember her enormous recorded legacy,
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