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The Best of Operetta Vol. 3 Johann Strauss followed his father's example in establishing his own dance-orchestras, in spite of the latter's express wishes....

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The Best of Operetta Vol. 3

Johann Strauss followed his father's example in establishing his own dance-orchestras, in spite of the latter's express wishes. By 1871, the date of his first operetta, the younger Strauss was firmly established as the Waltz King of Vienna. Hampered by libretti of indifferent quality, he scored significant and lasting success, above all, with the operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat), with a libretto by Richard Genee apparently based on Carl Haffner's version of a French original, Meilhac and Halevy's Le reveillon. Die Fledermaus was first performed at the Vienna Theater an der Wienon 5^th April 1874. The plot concerns Rosalinde, wife of Eisenstein, who, in her husband's absence, has a lover, her singing teacher Alfred. Eisenstein himself is to be imprisoned and is due to report to the prison on the evening on which the action starts. He is, however, induced by his friend Falke to accompany him to a party at the house of Prince Orlofsky. Adele, Rosalinde's maid, has pleaded the excuse of a sick aunt to enable her to attend the same party together with her sister and disguised as an actress. Rosalinde's intended evening with Alfred is interrupted by the prison governor Frank, who comes to take Eisenstein to gaol and now, presuming Alfred to be her husband, takes him instead. At Prince Orlofsky's Eisenstein is introduced as the Marquis Renard and Frank too appears, under the name of Chevalier Chagrin. Rosalinde attends the party disguised as a Hungarian countess. Falke, it seems, has had an ulterior motive in persuading Eisenstein to accompany him. He means to settle scores with him over an incident in which he was left, after a fancy-dress ball, to make his way home dressed as a bat. Falke plans the bat's revenge. The party at Prince Orlofsky's brings a series of misunderstandings that are only finally resolved in the third act, which takes place at the prison. Here disguises are cast aside and the identity of Alfred is revealed, through further subterfuge from Eisenstein, now posing as the lawyer Dr Blind, but all ends in eventual reconciliation and happiness, with any misunderstandings now attributed to King Champagne.

The Overture to Die Fledermaus [1] sets the mood of the piece, with the waltz prevailing in a medley of themes. In Klänge der Heimat [6] (Sounds of Home) Rosalinde, in her disguise as a Hungarian countess, sings her famous csárdás to entertain Prince Orlofsky's guests. Trinke, Liebchen! Trinke schnell! [7] (Drink, my dear! Drink quickly!) is a duet for Rosalinde and her lover, Alfred, now in Eisenstein's house, wearing the latter's smoking-cap and dressing-gown. It is followed by the appearance of Frank, ready to arrest the master of the house. Mein Herr Marquis [9] is Adele's so-called laughing song, as she teases the disguised Eisenstein, still pretending to be the actress Olga, although she is wearing one of Rosalinde's dresses to attend Prince Orlofsky's reception. Spiel'ichdie Unschuld vom Lande [11] (I play the country innocent) is sung by Adele in the third act, when she reveals her identity and her theatrical ambitions to Frank, whose influence she has hoped to engage. Here she gives an account of the different parts she can play.

Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice) was a much less successful venture. Its librettists Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Genée again took a French original, Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré's Château Trompette, and the work was first staged in 1883 in Berlin, to avoid collaboration with the Theater an der Wien, where the director, Franz Steiner, had become the lover of Strauss's second wife, Lili. In Berlin the operetta was a fiasco, but when it was performed in Vienna it fared better, surviving on its music rather than its text and plot and on the comic abilities of the actor-singer Girardi. The famous Lagunenwalzer [14] (Lagoon Waltz) was rewritten for Vienna, where it was sung by Caramello, barber to the Duke of Urbino, who plays an important part in the intrigue.

By the 1890s Strauss was an old man, his theatrical genius, at least, flagging. It was in this decade, the last of his life, that the lawyer and government official Carl Zeller made his own contribution to Viennese operetta, most notably in Der Vogelhändler (The Bird-Catcher), staged first in 1891. From this comes Wie mein Ahn'l zwanzig Jahr! [3] (Twenty like my father!), one of the best known songs in the most popular of Zeller's operettas, the last of which, Der Kellermeister, remained unfinished at his death in 1898.

Viennese operetta was revived and continued after the death of Strauss in 1899 by Franz Lehár, son of a Hungarian bandmaster, whose profession he himself followed at first. He won significant success in Vienna in 1905 with his most famous work for the stage, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow). Paganini, based on supposed amorous episodes in the life of the famous violinist, has a libretto by Paul Kepler and Béla Jenbach and was first staged at the Johann Strauss-Theater in Vienna in 1925. In Lucca the Princess Maria Anna Elisa is infatuated by Paganini but is compelled to concur in his expulsion, to avoid further scandal. In Liebe, du Himmel auf Erden [5] (Love, heaven on earth) she reacts to their enforced parting.

Imre Kálmán, a fellow student and compatriot of Bartók and Kodály, embarked first on a career as a music critic and composer of more serious music. From this he was deflected by the success of his first operetta, Tatárjárás (The Gay Hussars) in 1908. He settled in Vienna, moving to Paris in 1939 and thence to America. His operetta Gráfin Mariza (Countess Mariza) was first staged in Vienna in 1924. Auftrittslied Mariza [2] (Maritsa's Entrance Song) introduces the Countess of the title, who has in her employment the impoverished nobleman Tassilo and tries to ward off her suitors by pretending engagement to a certain Baron Koloman Zsupán, a fictitious character whose identity is then claimed by a real Zsupán. Various intrigues end happily for Mariza and Tassilo. Komm Zigány [4] (Come, gypsy) is sung by Tassilo at the party given by the Countess to celebrate her supposed betrothal, while in Grüß mir die süßen [8] (Greet for me the sweet ladies) he muses on the change of fortune that has forced him to sell his property to settle his father's debts.

The Austrian composer Robert Stolz was a contemporary of Kálmán, a pupil of Robert Fuchs in Vienna and Humperdinck in Berlin. He was a prolific composer for the theatre and cinema, and wrote some two thousand songs, while continuing a career as a conductor. Ich liebe dich [10] (I love you) is taken from Zauber der Bohème (Magician from Bohemia), Zwei Herzen in Dreivierteltakt [12] (Two hearts in three-four time), written in 1930, was used for both theatre and film, while Du sollst der Kaiser meiner Seele sein [13] (You shall be the emperor of my soul) is taken from the operetta Der Favorit, mounted in Berlin in 1916. Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier [15] (Adieu, my little guards officer) is characteristic of Stolz's somewhat sentimental songs of parting.

Ingrid Kertesi
The coloratura soprano Ingrid Kertesi was born in Budapest and at first studied the cello. She had her training as a singer at the Liszt Academy and in Bayreuth, joining the Hungarian State Opera in 1986. Her career later took her to Vienna, where she sang the role of Olympia in Les Contes de Hoffinann, and to the Komische Oper in Berlin, where she sang Blonde in a production by Harry Kupfer of Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail. 1992 brought the Hungarian Juventus Prize for performances as Gilda in Rigoletto, Olympia, Juliette in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and other roles. Her international career has taken her to Israel, France, Switzerland and Italy, in addition to appearances in Japan.

Zsuzsa Csonka
Zsuzsa Csonka completed her conservatory studies as a violinist, later turning her attention to singing both at the Budapest Academy and in Vienna, where her teachers included Hans Hotter and Alexander Kollo. She has been a member of the Hungarian State Opera since 1984, singing roles that have included the Queen of the Night, Musetta, Oscar, Rosina, Norma, Adina, Gilda and Olympia, her coloratura roles leading to lyrical roles in opera and operetta. Her successful career has taken her, as a guest performer, to Switzerland, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United States of America and Canada.

János Berkes

Born into a musical family in the Hungarian town of Szentes, the tenor János Berkes completed his studies at the Budapest Liszt Academy in 1971, making his professional operatic debut as Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Triumph in 1976 in the Treviso Toti dal Monte Competition was followed, in 1979, by the special prize of the International Jury in the Belgian Television Competition for his performance in opera and bel canto. A three-year engagement in Vienna brought appearances throughout the world, in the Americas, the Far East, Australia and the major countries of Europe. He has coupled leading tenor operatic roles with performance in Viennese operetta, including Die Zirkusprinzessin, Gräfin Mariza, Der Zigeunerbaron and Die Csárdás Fürstin. János Berkes is also known for his concert appearances in oratorio repertoire.

Hungarian Operetta Orchestra
The Hungarian Operetta Orchestra (North Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Miskolc) was founded in 1963. This dynamically developing concert orchestra plays a determining role in Hungarian music life, with a repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary works. The orchestra has 84 members and gives around ninety concerts a year, appearing in the greatest concert halls around the world, working frequently under conductors of great distinction.

Lászlo Kovács
Lászlo Kovács studied at the Budapest Liszt Academy as a trombonist and as a conductor, making his debut in the latter capacity at the Hungarian State Opera at the age of twenty-one. After serving as an assistant to conductors such as János Ferencsik, Lamberto Gardelli, Giuseppe Patane and Yuri Simonow, he built an international career and since 1984 has been General Music Director of the North Hungarian Symphony Orchestra (Miskolc). In 1989 he was awarded the Ferenc Liszt Prize and in 1993 the Bartók Prize and since 1979 has been on the teaching staff of the Liszt Academy.

Disc 1

Der Vogelhandler

(more info)

Performed by: Cologne Symphony Orchestra Vienna State Opera Orchestra Budapest Symphony Orchestra Hungarian Operetta Orchestra Berlin Babelsberg Film Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra Studio orchestra Morbisch Festival Orchestra
Composed by: Carl Zeller
Conducted by: Lawrance Collingwood Laszlo Kovacs Karl Alwin Walter Weller David Parry Rudolf Bibl Jan Schultsz
Birgid Steinberger, soprano
Elisabeth Schumann, soprano
Janos Berkes, tenor
Walther Ludwig, tenor
Lillie Claus,
Yvonne Kenny, soprano
Bruce Ford, tenor
Ingrid Habermann, soprano
Marika Lichter, vocals
Eduard Lehmann, baritone
Jorg Schneider, tenor
Sebastian Reinthaller, tenor
Willy Gartner, vocals
Noemi Nadelmann, soprano
Eva Lind, soprano
Recording date: 1940

Wie mein Ahn'l zwanzig Jahr! - 3:52

Grafin Mariza (Countess Mariza)

(more info)

Performed by: Budapest Symphony Orchestra Hungarian Operetta Orchestra Studio orchestra Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra Morbisch Festival Orchestra Cologne West German Radio Orchestra
Composed by: Emmerich Kalman
Conducted by: Anton Paulik Michail Jurowski Laszlo Kovacs Willy Mattes Wilhelm Schuchter Rudolf Bibl Jan Schultsz
Julia Bauer, soprano
Richard Tauber, tenor
Eva Marton, soprano
Zsuzsa Csonka, soprano
Janos Berkes, tenor
Carlotta Vanconti, soprano
Marko Kathol, tenor
Ursula Pfitzner, soprano
Gerhard Ernst, baritone
Nikolai Schukoff, tenor
Natela Nicoli, mezzo-soprano
Noemi Nadelmann, soprano
Sari Barabas, soprano
Marcel Wittrisch, tenor
Jyrki Niskanen, tenor
Fritz Wunderlich, tenor
Recording date: 1932

Paganini

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Performed by: Budapest Symphony Orchestra Hungarian Operetta Orchestra Chandos Concert Orchestra Berlin Deutsche Opera Orchestra Studio orchestra Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra Cologne West German Radio Orchestra
Composed by: Franz Lehar
Conducted by: Barry Knight Herman Weigert Laszlo Kovacs Hansgeorg Otto Helmut Froschauer Jan Schultsz
Richard Tauber, tenor
Hilde Gueden, soprano
Zsuzsa Csonka, soprano
Janos Berkes, tenor
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Peter Morrison, baritone
Carlotta Vanconti, soprano
Mojca Erdmann, soprano
Noemi Nadelmann, soprano
Marilyn Hill Smith, soprano
Thomas Dewald, tenor
Daniel Kirch, tenor
Jana Scharkowskaja, soprano
Rupert Glawitsch, tenor
Recording date: 2 September 1939

Liebe, du Himmel auf Erden - 2:30

Die Fledermaus

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Performed by: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Laval Symphony Orchestra Vienna State Opera Orchestra Munich Radio Orchestra Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice Budapest Symphony Orchestra Hungarian Operetta Orchestra New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin State Opera Orchestra Studio orchestra Morbisch Festival Orchestra Linz Bruckner Orchestra Russia Philharmonia
Composed by: Johann Strauss II
Conducted by: Clemens Krauss Herbert von Karajan Frieder Weissmann Jacques Lacombe Peter Guth Laszlo Kovacs Johannes Wildner Karl Alwin Jukka-Pekka Saraste Otto Ackermann Leo Blech Walter Schultze Constantine Orbelian Rudolf Bibl Jan Schultsz Max Rudolf Heinz Fricke
Manon Feubel, soprano
Rita Streich, soprano
Karl Donch, baritone
Helmut Krebs, tenor
Franz Boheim, narrator
Luise Martini, narrator
Maria Ivogun, soprano
Waldemar Staegemann, baritone
Richard Tauber, tenor
Elisabeth Schumann, soprano
Erna Berger, soprano
John Dickie, tenor
Karita Mattila, soprano
Julius Patzak, tenor
Hilde Gueden, soprano
Anton Dermota, tenor
Alfred Poell, baritone
Gabriele Fontana, soprano
Zsuzsa Csonka, soprano
Janos Berkes, tenor
Josef Hopferwieser, tenor
Brigitte Karwautz, soprano
Rohangiz Yachmi-Caucig, mezzo-soprano
Alfred Werner, baritone
Edith Lienbacher, soprano
Erich Majkut, tenor
Erich Kunz, baritone
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Elsa Kochhann, soprano
Franz Volker, tenor
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Artur Stefanowicz, counter-tenor
Lotte Lehmann, soprano
Waldemar Kmentt, tenor
Andrea Martin, baritone
Nicolai Gedda, tenor
Vera Schwarz, soprano
Grete Merrem-Nikisch, soprano
Karin Branzell, mezzo-soprano
Waldemar Stagemann, bass
Peter Edelmann, baritone
Silvana Dussman, soprano
Ute Gferer, soprano
Marion Rainer, vocals
Paul Armin Edelmann, baritone
Thomas Lind, tenor
Thaddaus Podgorski, vocals
Franz Jirsa, vocals
Noemi Nadelmann, soprano
Marina Domashenko, mezzo-soprano
Jochen Kowalski, counter-tenor
Rudolf Christ, tenor
Ljuba Welitsch, soprano
Recording date: 1927

Overture - 8:16
Klange der Heimat - 4:13
Trinke, Liebchen! Trinke schnell! - 3:23

Die Fledermaus (Sung in English)

(more info)

Performed by: Hungarian Operetta Orchestra London Philharmonic Orchestra
Composed by: Johann Strauss II
Conducted by: Laszlo Kovacs Walter Weller David Parry
Thomas Allen, baritone
Zsuzsa Csonka, soprano
Janice Watson, soprano
Diana Montague, mezzo-soprano

Mein Herr Marquis - 3:08
Spiel' ich die Unschuld vom Lande - 4:26

Zauber der Boheme (Magician of Bohemia)

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Performed by: Hungarian Operetta Orchestra
Composed by: Robert Stolz
Conducted by: Laszlo Kovacs
Janos Berkes, tenor
Marcel Wittrisch, tenor
Recording date: 1937

Ich liebe dich! - 4:33

2 Herzen im Dreivierteltakt (2 Hearts in 3/4 Time)

(more info)

Performed by: Hungarian Operetta Orchestra
Composed by: Walter Reisch Robert Stolz
Conducted by: Laszlo Kovacs
Janos Berkes, tenor
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Recording date: 16-31 January 1996

Zwei Herzen im Dreivierteltakt - 2:56

Der Favorit (The Favourite)

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Performed by: Munich Radio Orchestra Hungarian Operetta Orchestra Berlin State Opera Orchestra
Composed by: Robert Stolz
Conducted by: Selmar Meyrowitz Laszlo Kovacs Heinz Fricke
Joseph Schmidt, tenor
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Jochen Kowalski, counter-tenor
Recording date: 16-31 January 1996

Du sollst der Kaiser meiner Seele sein - 4:43

Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice)

(more info)

Performed by: Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice Hungarian Operetta Orchestra Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony London Philharmonic Orchestra Berlin Radio Orchestra Philharmonia Orchestra Morbisch Festival Orchestra Linz Bruckner Orchestra Stockholm Strauss Orchestra
Composed by: Johann Strauss II
Conducted by: Alfred Walter Raffi Armenian Mika Eichenholz Peter Guth Laszlo Kovacs Heinrich Steiner Otto Ackermann Walter Weller Rudolf Bibl
Andreas Post, tenor
Daniel Buckard, tenor
Pierre Gylbert, tenor
Erika Andersson, mezzo-soprano
Anna Larsdotter Persson, mezzo-soprano
Merete L. Meyer, soprano
Anna-Maria Krawe, soprano
Kristina Hansson, soprano
Henrik Holmberg, tenor
Karl Donch, baritone
Carla Spletter, soprano
Janos Berkes, tenor
Karl Schmitt-Walter, baritone
Erich Zimmermann, tenor
Margarethe Arndt-Ober, mezzo-soprano
Rosl Seegers, soprano
Erich Kunz, baritone
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano
Johan Christensson, tenor
Bruce Ford, tenor
Hanna Ludwig,
Karel Stepanek,
Hanna Norbert,
Anton Diffring,
Lea Seidl,
Herbert Lippert, tenor
Peter Klein, tenor
Nicolai Gedda, tenor
Franz Kalchmair, bass
Evelyn Schorkhuber, mezzo-soprano
Anton Steingruber, tenor
Wilhelm Gartner, voice
Mirjana Irosch, mezzo-soprano
Heike Wittlieb, soprano
Christian Baumgartel, tenor
Klaus Kuttler, baritone
Romana Noack, soprano
Mehrzad Montazeri,
Emmy Loose, soprano
Tatjana Dravenau, piano
Marcel Wittrisch, tenor
Mark DuBois, tenor
Joanne Kolomyjec, soprano
Recording date: 25-28, 31 May, 25 September 1954

Lagunenwalzer - 3:24

Das Lied ist aus (The Song is Over) (text by W. Reisch)

(more info)

Performed by: Hungarian Operetta Orchestra
Composed by: Walter Reisch Robert Stolz
Conducted by: Laszlo Kovacs
Ingrid Kertesi, soprano
Recording date: 16-31 January 1996

Adieu, mein kleiner Gardeoffizier - 5:16

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Composer(s):
Kalman, Emmerich; Lehar, Franz; Reisch, Walter; Stolz, Robert; Strauss II, Johann; Zeller, Carl

Conductor(s):
Kovacs, Laszlo; Wildner, Johannes

Orchestra(s):
Hungarian Operetta Orchestra; Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice

Artist(s):
Berkes, Janos; Csonka, Zsuzsa; Kertesi, Ingrid

Label: Naxos Classics
UPC: 730099594325
Item Number: 8550943
Release Date: Nov 14, 1996