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
read morePosts Tagged 'Nazi Operetta'
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“
read more
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
read more
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
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
“Arizona Lady” Comes To Arizona Opera In October 2015
The Jewish News reports on the upcoming first performance of the complete Arizona Lady by Emmerich Kalman – in (get
read more
Danilo In Dachau: The Man Who Battled Heesters Dies Age 81
Many younger people in Germany might not know Volker Kühn – and many people in the English speaking world have
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
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
A Day Of Liberation? The 8th of May 1945 In Operetta History
The 8th of May, 1945 was a sunny Tuesday in the Third Reich. It was the day General Hans-Georg von
read more
“Wiener Blut”: Eine explosive Gender-Komödie ums Triebleben aller Beteiligten
At the 2015 edition of Tanz-Signale in Vienna, devoted to Johann Strauss and his librettist Victor Léon, Kevin Clarke talked
read more
Remembering Concentration Camp Buchenwald
Today, 70 years ago, the concentration camp Buchenwald was liberated on April 12. From an operetta perspective this particular camp
read more
“The Beastly Bombing”: The Very Model Of A Modern Operetta
The Beastly Bombing, or A Terrible Tale of Terrorists Tamed by the Tangles of True Love is an operetta in
read more
Frida Weber-Flessburg: A Voice Survives Auschwitz
No, Frida Weber-Flessburg (1890-1943) is not one of those fabled operetta divas whose career the Nazis destroyed, but whose memory
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
A Musical Comedy Orgasm: Seeing “Clivia” In Berlin From A Broadway Perspective
Tuesday and Wednesday in Berlin were exasperating for me. A combination of misunderstandings, bad directions, getting lost, buying a theatre
read more
“Bodies & Gender”: Operetta Symposium In Berlin
Finally, you might say. Or, as the Germans would put it: „Endlich!“ Yes, the Komische Oper Berlin will present the
read more
“Ich reiß’ mir eine Wimper aus”: How To Revive Operettas From The Nazi Era
It is an inventive new approach to an old question: how do we deal with the ideological baggage of operettas
read more
Performing Operettas From Nazi-Times Today: Interview With Jakob Brenner
In Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, the Theater der Altmark will present a new production of Fred Raymond’s Maske in Blau. It’s
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
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
Operetta After 1933: An Exhibition at the Brucknerfest Linz
During the Brucknerfest in Linz, Austria, a new exhibition will open at the Tabakfabrik on September 9. Its title: Operette
read more
Deep Throat: Jonas Kaufmann Sings 1920s Operetta
When a PR-savvy superstar of the Jonas Kaufmann caliber issues a “cross-over“ album filled with operetta goodies, people take notice.
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
Zwischen Aufsässigkeit und Anpassung: Ralph Benatzky
“Was wird bleiben?” Kann bei der „leichten Muse“ überhaupt so hochgestochen gefragt werden? Immerhin wird hier von „Evergreens“ gesprochen! Das
read more
Is “Maske in Blau” Worth Reviving?
Why Fred Raymond’s Maske in Blau (1937) is so popular right now, is anyone’s guess. But the show that contains
read more
Jean Gilbert, Walter Kollo and Berlin Operetta After 1914
They were two of the most successful and influential operetta composers in Berlin: Jean Gilbert and Walter Kollo. One Jewish,
read more
Korngold’s “Stumme Serenade” in Arnhem and Berlin
Erich Wolfgang Korngold is mostly remembered today as an adapter of operettas. He re-wrote many famous shows and created versions
read more
Fred Raymond: A New Official Homepage
Fred Raymond was one of the most successful operetta composers in Germany between 1933 and 1945. His Maske in Blau
read more
Wie einst im Mai – 1943 vs. 1913
Für alle, die unlängst das ZDF-Magazin aspekte gesehen haben: Es gibt neben der dort zelebrierten Berliner Jazz- und Revueoperette der
read more
Erik Charell (April 8, 1894 – July 15, 1974)
Charell was born as Erich Karl Löwenberg in Breslau. He was the first child of Markus Löwenberg and Ida Korach.
read more
“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
read more
Goethe as a musical hero: The case of Lehár’s “Friederike”
Franz Lehár was not the first to think of Goethe as an opera or operetta hero. There was the precedent
read more
Operette – die aus der Zeit gefallene Kunst?
Als mich vor ein, zwei Jahren eine humanistische Gesellschaft wegen eines Vortrags ansprach, mich gleichzeitig aber darauf aufmerksam machte, dass
read more