Nikolai schukoff biography of abraham

Kevin Clarke

Operetta Research Center

7 February, 2019

Ah yes, another Fledermaus recording. As if there aren’t enough already, right? Well, actually, this one from the NDR Radiophilharmonie and conducted by Lawrence Foster is quite fun to listen to. Very alive and energetic, with some joyous casting choices: among them Laura Aikin as a American Rosalinde with some fun dialogue moments on top of great singing. But how does this double CD on Pentatone compare to previous “classic” recordings? Is it possible to say what the “best” Fledermaus on disc is?

Obviously, any such choice of “a favorite” is going to depend on your preferences with regard to voices and styles. While the 1874 world premiere at the Theater an der Wien did not include a single (!) opera singer from the neighboring Court Opera, or from any other opera company, nearly all available recordings today are entirely cast with opera singers and big symphony orchestras.

Whether it’s the NDR Radiophilharmonie, as in this latest release, or the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra who deliver a pretty breathtaking sound on the Clemens Krauss recording from 1950 or the Herbert von Karajan version of 1960. It’s difficult to top their “Viennese” bounce, not even Carlos Kleiber achieves that with the Bayerisches Staatsorchester on his Deutsche Grammophon version from 1976. (Even if some orchestral details are stunning to listen to there.)

But back to casting: The only version with a real operetta singer is the 1936 radio recording from Berlin which has Hubert Marischka as Eisenstein. It is amazing to hear how much he improvises along the way, and how c

“In der Heimat blüh’n die Rosen – nicht für mich den Heimatlosen”, sings Count Boleslav in his first big solo in Polnische Hochzeit: “In my home country roses are blossoming, but not for me, I am without a homeland.” These are words from the 1937 show, premiered in Switzerland, that could just as easily come from the biography of the composer himself.

Joseph Beer was born in 1908 in Lemberg (Lwów, Lviv). Back then, this was part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, but 10 years later it was to become one of the most important cities of Poland. Beer studied in Vienna, after the “Anschluss” in 1938 he fled to France.

He first went to Paris. Helped by the director of the Théâtre du Châtelet he earned his living by writing music for the film Festival du Monde. After failing to reach the Unites States, he ended up in Nice. During his years in hiding Beer composed Stradella in Venice there, an opera in the verismo style (premiere Zurich, 1949), which turned out to be his final one. After the war Beer got the news that his parents were killed in Auschwitz. Also his friend, mentor and librettist of Polnische Hochzeit, Fritz Löhner-Beda, had not survived the camps.

In the early fifties Beer married Hanna Königsberg, also a Holocaust survivor (Königsberg fled Germany as a child, with her parents). Together with her and their two daughters he remained in Nice until his death in 1987.

Beer never got over the sad news of the loss of his family. He withdrew from public life and stopped composing. Instead, he threw himself into studying musicology. In 1966 he defended his thesis: ‘The Evolution of Harmonic Style in the Work of Scriabin.’

After the war, Polnische Hochzeit was never performed again. Beer himself refused to give permission. We can only guess why he did so, but apparently the confrontation with the operetta was too painful for him

Basia Jaworski

Operamagazine.nl

25 November, 2016

“In der Heimat blüh’n die Rosen – nicht für mich den Heimatlosen”, sings Count Boleslav in his first big solo in Polnische Hochzeit: “In my home country roses are blossoming, but not for me, I am without a homeland.” These are words from the 1937 show, premiered in Switzerland, that could just as easily come from the biography of the composer himself.

Joseph Beer was born in 1908 in Lemberg. Back then, this was part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire, but 10 years later it was to become one of the most important cities of Poland. Beer studied in Vienna, after the “Anschluss” in 1938 he fled to France. Until he died, in 1987, he lived in Nice.

Polnische Hochzeit is a voluptuous operetta in the Viennese tradition. One can detect echoes of Emmerich Kálmán and Paul Abraham, but the score is also filled by Polish folk dances and Jewish melodies. But there are also many “modern” syncopated numbers, e.g. the duet “Katzenaugen” (Cat’s Eyes), a veritable Charleston.

What sets Polnische Hochzeit apart is the patriotic story set in 1830 Poland, a country occupied by the Russians. Childhood sweethearts Boleslav and Jadja meet once more when Boleslav returns home. Jadja is now engaged to Boleslav’s rich uncle Staschek, but the witty maid Suze (a female sort of Figaro) finds a way to untangle the engagement and get Boleslav and Jadja together in the end.

Because of the difficult theater situation in Austria, the show was first presented in Switzerland – with a libretto by Kalman’s and Lehár’s co-authors Alfred Grünwald and Fritz Löhner-Beda, who also collaborated with Abraham.

Polish Wedding was an immediate hit and had 40 subsequent productions elsewhere, outside of Nazi Germany. It was translated into eight languages.

Nikolai Schukoff is someone I encounter more and more often in operettas, and that makes me very happy. His tenor is very suited for the gen

Austrian operetta festival

The Seefestspiele Mörbisch, originally: Seespiele Mörbisch, is an annual operettafestival in Mörbisch am See (Austria). With around 150,000 visitors, the Mörbisch Lake Festival is the world's largest festival of the operetta genre. In addition to operettas, classical musicals are also performed on an irregular basis. Above all, the natural scenery of Neusiedler See is always incorporated into the stage set. The area is very flat, so transmission technology specially developed for the Lake Festival is used.

History

Economic-touristic foundations

The creation and development of the Seespiele Mörbisch was dominated by considerations of tourism policy. When, from 1953 onwards, efforts were made to develop Burgenland's tourism and to transform the visiting and transit area into a place to stay and relax, Lake Neusiedl and the lakeside communities were at the centre of these efforts. In the municipality of Mörbisch am See, the road between Rust and Mörbisch was extended with strong support from the tourism department, an 1800 m long lake dam, which opened up Lake Neusiedl to visitors from Mörbisch, was built and a lido was constructed. Mörbisch became the fourth important tourist community on the lake, alongside Rust, Neusiedl am See and Podersdorf am See. In 1956, the people of Mörbisch invited to a two-day Seefest. Together with the Austrian National Tourist Office [de], the community organised a so-called Night and Lake Festival, which was attended by 6000 guests. The programme offered night rides in decorated motorboats, music was provided by dance bands, Viennese artists performed a complete cabaret programme, and folk song and dance groups also performed.

In 1957, the Burgenland press announced the first highlight of the development of Mörbisch into a Burgenland tourist centre through the construction of a lakeside hotel.. und d