thumb|330px|The audience at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens, the birthplace of Offenbach's operettas (1860)Operetta is a genre of light opera, ''light'' in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.

Operetta in French

Origins

Operetta grew out of the French ''opéra comique'' around the middle of the 19th century, to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious ''opéra comique''. By this time the "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: ''Carmen'' (1875) is an example of an ''opéra comique'' with a tragic plot. ''Opéra comique'' had dominated the French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique.

Most researchers acknowledge that the credit for creating the operetta form should go to Hervé (1825–1892), a singer, composer, librettist, conductor, and scene painter. In 1842 he wrote the little opérette, ''L'Ours et le pacha'', based on the popular vaudeville show by Scribe and Saintine. In 1848, Hervé made his first notable appearance on the Parisian stage, with ''Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança'', which can be considered the starting point for the new French musical theatre tradition. Hervé's most famous works are the Gounod-parody ''Le Petit Faust'' (1869) and ''Mam'zelle Nitouche'' (1883).

Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach further developed and popularized operetta, giving it its enormous vogue during the Second Empire and afterwards. Offenbach's earliest one-act pieces included ''Les deux aveugles'', ''Le violoneux'' and ''Ba-ta-clan'' (all 1855), and his first full-length operetta success was ''Orphée aux enfers'' (1858). These led to the so-called "Offenbachiade": works including ''Geneviève de Brabant'' 1859, ''Le pont des soupirs'' 1861, ''La belle Hélène'' 1864, ''Barbe-bleue'' and ''La Vie parisienne'' both 1866, ''La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein'' 1867, ''La Périchole'' 1868 and ''Les brigands'' 1869. Offenbach's tradition was then carried on by Robert Planquette, André Messager, and others.

What characterizes Offenbach's operettas is both the grotesque way they portray life, and the extremely frivolous way this is done, often bordering on the pornographic. Émile Zola describes the back-stage and on-stage situation in the Théâtre des Variétés during the Second Empire in his novel ''Nana'', which takes place in late 1860s and describes the career of operetta diva/courtesan Nana. The character was closely modeled after Offenbach's female star Hortense Schneider, and Offenbach's librettist Ludovic Halévy gave Émile Zola the details. Considering how Zola's ''Nana'' describes an Offenbach-style operetta performance in Paris, it is not surprising that the mostly male, upper-class audience crowded the various theaters every evening. Upper-class audiences in other cities like Vienna and Berlin longed to see these shows in their home towns as well, which inspired worldwide performance of Offenbach's works.

The highly erotic way Offenbach's operettas were originally played, with stars like Hortense Schneider — or the legendary courtesan Cora Pearl, who appeared in a revival of Offenbach's ''Orphée aux Enfers'' in 1867 completely covered in diamonds and little else — created a scandalized reaction from certain parts of the general public. Operetta was considered a "frivolous" art form. Indeed, together with its grotesque qualities, frivolity is one of the defining elements of "authentic" operetta à la Offenbach and Hervé.

It was only later, when audiences widened and became more middle and lower class, that operetta became more "serious" and "nostalgic". Many of the originally pornographic French (and Viennese) operettas were later played in a toned-down, "classical" version, which is how audiences today are mostly presented with the genre — in an opera house with opera singers, rather than in a private theatre with courtesans in the lead roles.

Operetta in German

Austria

The most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825–1899). His first operetta was ''Indigo und die vierzig Räuber'' (1871). His third operetta, ''Die Fledermaus'' (1874), became the most performed operetta in the world, and remains his most popular stage work. Its libretto was based on a comedy written by Offenbach's librettists. In all, Strauss wrote 16 operettas and one opera, most with great success when first premiered. Many of his lesser operettas are now largely forgotten, since his later librettists were less talented and he often composed independently of the plot.

Strauss's operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches often have a strongly Viennese style, and his popularity causes many to think of him as the national composer of Austria. In fact, when his stage works were first performed, the Theater an der Wien never failed to draw huge crowds, and after many of the numbers the audience would call noisily for encores.

Franz von Suppé, a contemporary of Strauss, closely modeled his operettas after Offenbach. The Viennese tradition was carried on by Franz Lehár, Oscar Straus, Carl Zeller, Karl Millöcker, Leo Fall, Richard Heuberger, Edmund Eysler, Ralph Benatzky, Robert Stolz, Emmerich Kálmán and Nico Dostal in the 20th century.

Germany

In the same way that Vienna was the center of Austrian operetta, Berlin was the center of German operetta. Berlin operetta often had its own style, including, especially after World War I, elements of jazz and other syncopated dance rhythms, a transatlantic style, and the presence of ragged marching tunes. Berlin operettas also sometimes included aspects of burlesque, revue, farce, or cabaret.

Paul Lincke pioneered the Berlin operetta in 1899 with ''Frau Luna'', which includes "''Berliner Luft''" ("Berlin Air"), which became the unofficial anthem of Berlin. His ''Lysistrata'' (1902) includes the song and tune "The Glow-Worm", which remains quite popular internationally. Much later, in the 1920s and 1930s, Kurt Weill took a more extreme form of the Berlin operetta style and used it in his operas, operettas, and musicals.

The Berlin-style operetta coexisted with more bourgeois, charming, home-loving, and nationalistic German operettas — some of which were called ''Volksoperetten'' (folk operettas). A prime example is Leon Jessel's extremely popular 1917 ''Schwarzwaldmädel'' (''Black Forest Girl''). These bucolic, nostalgic, home-loving operettas were officially preferred over Berlin-style operettas after 1933, when the Nazis came to power and instituted the ''Reichsmusikkammer'' (State Music Institute), which deprecated and banned "decadent" music like jazz and similar "foreign" musical forms.

Notable German operetta composers include Paul Lincke, Eduard Künneke, Walter Kollo, Jean Gilbert, Leon Jessel, Rudolf Dellinger, and Walter Goetze.

Operetta in English

English-language operettas were first composed in England in the 1860s — for example, Sullivan's ''Cox and Box'' (1866). They were soon known as comic operas, to distinguish this family-friendly fare from the risqué French operettas of the 1850s and 1860s.

The height of the form was reached by Gilbert and Sullivan, who had a long-running collaboration during the Victorian era. With W. S. Gilbert writing the libretti and Arthur Sullivan composing the music, the pair produced 14 comic operas, sometimes called Savoy Operas. Most were enormously popular in Britain, the U.S., and elsewhere. Their works, such as ''H.M.S. Pinafore'', ''The Pirates of Penzance'', and ''The Mikado'', continue to enjoy regular performances throughout the English-speaking world.

English operetta continued into the 20th century, with works by composers such as Edward German, Lionel Monckton, and Harold Fraser-Simson. Increasingly, these took on features of musical comedy, until the distinction between an "old-fashioned musical" and a "modern operetta" became blurred. Old-fashioned musicals in Britain, in particular, retained an "operetta-ish" flavour into the 1950s.

American operetta composers included Victor Herbert, whose works at the beginning of the 20th century were influenced by both Viennese operetta and Gilbert and Sullivan. He was followed by Sigmund Romberg and Rudolph Friml. More modern American operettas include Leonard Bernstein's ''Candide''. Nevertheless, by 1930, English-language operetta had largely given way to musicals, such as ''Show Boat'', ''Oklahoma!'', etc.

Definitions

Operettas have similarities to both operas and musicals, and the boundaries between the genres are sometimes blurred. For instance, American composer Scott Joplin insisted that his serious but ragtime-influenced work ''Treemonisha'' (1911) was an opera, but some reference works characterize it as an operetta. Likewise, some of Leonard Bernstein's works he designated as operas (e.g., ''Trouble in Tahiti'') are categorized as operettas, and his operetta ''Candide'' is sometimes considered a musical.

Operettas and operas

Operettas are usually shorter than operas, and are usually of a light and amusing character. Operettas are often considered less "serious" than operas.

Topical satire is a feature common to many operettas. However, satire is used in some "serious" operas as well: Formerly, in countries such as France, operas expressed politics in code — for example, the circumstances of the title character in the opera ''Robert le diable'' referred, at its first performance, to the French king's parental conflict and its resolution.

Normally some of the libretto of an operetta is spoken rather than sung. Instead of moving from one musical number to another, the musical segments — e.g. aria, recitative, chorus — are interspersed with periods of dialogue. There is usually no musical accompaniment to the dialogue, although sometimes some musical themes are played quietly under it. Short passages of recitative are, however, sometimes used in operetta, especially as an introduction to a song.

Operettas and musicals

The operetta is a precursor of the modern musical theatre or "musical". In the early decades of the 20th century, the operetta continued to exist alongside the newer musical, with each influencing the other.

The main difference between the two genres is that most operettas can be described as light operas with acting, whereas most musicals are plays with singing. This can be seen in the performers chosen in the two forms. An operetta's cast will normally be classically-trained opera singers. A musical uses actors who sing, but usually not in an operatic style. These distinctions can be blurred: W.S. Gilbert, for example, said that he preferred to use actors who could sing for his productions, while Ezio Pinza, and other opera singers have appeared on Broadway. There are features of operetta in Kern and Hammerstein's ''Show Boat'' (1927), among others.

The characters in a musical may be more complex than those in an operetta, given the generally larger amount of dialogue. For example, the characters in Lerner and Loewe's musical ''My Fair Lady'', which is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1914 play ''Pygmalion'', are essentially unchanged from those in Shaw's stage work, because the musical version is quite faithful to the original (except for the changed ending, which is pessimistic in the play), even to the point of retaining most of Shaw's dialogue. ''Man of la Mancha'', adapted by Dale Wasserman from his own ninety-minute television play ''I, Don Quixote'', retains much of the dialogue in that play, cutting only enough to make room for the musical numbers which were added when the play was converted into a stage musical.

See also

List of operetta composers

The opera corpus which includes operettas

Opera

Zarzuela

Comic opera

Savoy opera

Musical theatre

Notes

References

Ganzl, Kurt. ''The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre'' (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books, 2001.

Traubner, Richard. ''Operetta: A Theatrical History''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1983

Bordman, Gerald. ''American Operetta''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981.

Linhardt, Marion, ''Residenzstadt und Metropole. Zu einer kulturellen Topographie des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918)''. Berlin: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 2006 (German)

Clarke, Kevin, ''Glitter and be Gay: Die authentische Operette und ihre schwulen Verehrer''. Hamburg: Männerschwarm Verlag, 2007 (German)

Riccardo Viagrande, Tu che m'hai preso il cuor. Un viaggio nel mondo dell'operetta, Casa Musicale Eco, Monza, 2009 (Italian)

External links

Extensive site with information about operettas, light operas and their composers

Essay on operettas of Offenbach, Johann Strauss Jr. and their contemporaries

Operetta Research Center (with a large archive of historical reviews)

Seite zu französischen Operetten-Einaktern (dzt. im Aufbau befindlich)

Category:Opera genres Category:Opera terminology Category:Italian loanwords

az:Operetta bg:Оперета ca:Opereta cs:Opereta da:Operette de:Operette et:Operett el:Οπερέτα es:Opereta eo:Opereto eu:Opereta fa:اپرت fr:Opérette hr:Opereta id:Operet it:Operetta he:אופרטה ka:ოპერეტა kk:Оперетта lv:Operete lb:Operett lt:Operetė hu:Operett mk:Оперета ms:Opereta nl:Operette ja:オペレッタ no:Operette pl:Operetka pt:Opereta ro:Operetă ru:Оперетта scn:Opiretta simple:Operetta sk:Opereta sl:Opereta sr:Оперета sh:Opereta fi:Operetti sv:Operett tr:Operet uk:Оперета wa:Operete zh:轻歌剧

Emmerich Kálmán (24 October 1882 30 October 1953) was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.

Biography

Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary (formerly Austria-Hungary) in a Jewish family.

Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition instead. He studied music theory and composition at the National Hungarian Royal Academy of Music (then the Budapest Academy of Music), where he was a fellow student of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály under Hans Kössler. His early symphonic poems were well-received, although he failed to achieve publication.

However, the popularity of his humorous cabaret songs led him towards the composition of operettas. His first great success was ''Tatárjárás'' (the German title is ''Ein Herbstmanöver'' ('Autumn Maneuver'), while the English name is ''The Gay Hussars'') first staged at the Lustspieltheater in Budapest, on 22 February 1908. Thereafter he moved to Vienna where he achieved worldwide fame by composing his operettas ''Der Zigeunerprimas'', ''Die Csárdásfürstin'', ''Gräfin Mariza'', and ''Die Zirkusprinzessin''.

Kálmán and Franz Lehár were the leading composers of what has been called the "Silver Age" of Viennese operetta during the first quarter of the 20th century. He became well-known for his fusion of Viennese waltz with Hungarian csárdás. Even so, polyphonically and melodically, Kálmán was a devoted follower of Giacomo Puccini, while in his orchestration methods he employed principles characteristic of Tchaikovsky's music.

Despite his Jewish origins he was one of Adolf Hitler's favorite composers. After the Anschluss, he rejected Hitler's offer to become an 'honorary Aryan' and was forced to move first to Paris, then to the United States, settling in California in 1940. Following his emigration, performances of his works were prohibited in Nazi Germany. He emigrated back to Vienna from New York in 1949 before moving in 1951 to Paris, where he died.

Operettas with place and date of first production

''Tatárjárás'' – Budapest, 1908

* ''Ein Herbstmanöver'' – Vienna, 1909 (German version of ''Tatárjárás'')

''The Gay Hussars'' – New York, 1909 (American version of ''Tatárjárás'')

* ''Autumn Manoeuvres'' – London, 1912 (English version of ''Tatárjárás'')

''Az obsitos'' – Budapest, 1910

* ''Der gute Kamerad'' – Vienna, 1911 (German revision of ''Az Obsitos'')

* ''Gold gab ich für Eisen'' – Vienna, 1914 (revision of ''Der gute Kamerad'')

''Her Soldier Boy'' – New York, 1916

* ''Soldier Boy'' – London, 1918

* ''A Soldier's Promise'' – Wooster, Ohio, 2005

''Der Zigeunerprimas'' – Vienna, 1912

''Sari'' – New York, 1914

''The Blue House'' – London, 1912

''Der kleine König'' – Vienna, 1912

''Zsuzsi kisasszony'' – Budapest, 1915

''Miss Springtime'' – New York, 1916

* ''Die Faschingsfee'' – Vienna, 1917 (German revision of ''Zsuzsi kisasszony'')

''Die Csárdásfürstin'' – Vienna, 1915

''The Riviera Girl'' – New York, 1917

* ''The Gipsy Princess'' – London, 1921

* ''The Csárdás Princess'' – Cleveland, 2010

''Das Hollandweibchen'' – Vienna, 1920

* ''A Little Dutch Girl'' – London, 1920

* ''The Dutch Girl'' – U.S., 1925

''Die Bajadere'' – Vienna, 1921

''The Yankee Princess'' – New York, 1922

''Gräfin Mariza'' – Vienna, 1924

''Countess Maritza'' – New York, 1926

* ''Maritza'' – London, 1938

''Die Zirkusprinzessin'' – Vienna, 1926

''The Circus Princess'' – New York, 1927

''Golden Dawn'' – New York, 1927

''Die Herzogin von Chicago'' – Vienna, 1928

* ''The Duchess of Chicago'' – U.S., 1929

''Das Veilchen vom Montmartre'' – Vienna, 1930

* ''Paris in Spring'' – U.S., 1930

* ''A Kiss in Spring'' – London, 1932

''Der Teufelsreiter'' – Vienna, 1932

''Kaiserin Josephine'' – Zurich, 1936

''Miss Underground'' – written 1942, unproduced

''Marinka'' – New York, 1945

''Arizona Lady'' – Bern, 1954

Notes

References

Clarke, Kevin. "''Im Himmel spielt auch schon die Jazzband." Emmerich Kálmán und die transatlantische Operette 1928–1932''. Hamburg: von Bockel Verlag, 2007 (examines Kálmán's jazz-operettas of the 1920s, with extensive English quotes from historical Broadway- and West End reviews)

Article on the operettas of Kálmán

Histocial reviews and a biography/worklist by Kurt Gänzl)

Further reading

Nagibin, Yuri. Вечная музыка. Russia, ACT, 2004.(hardcover, ISBN 5-17-021655-6) (pp. 201–345)

External links

Links to numerous Kálmán recordings

Category:1882 births Category:1953 deaths Category:People from Siófok Category:American Jews Category:Austrian Jews Category:Hungarian Jews Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish composers and songwriters Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States Category:Hungarian musical theatre composers Category:Opera composers Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Category:Alumni of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music

bg:Имре Калман cs:Emmerich Kálmán da:Emmerich Kálmán de:Emmerich Kálmán eo:Kálmán Imre fr:Emmerich Kálmán hr:Emmerich Kálmán id:Emmerich Kálmán it:Emmerich Kálmán he:אמריך קלמן lt:Imrė Kalmanas hu:Kálmán Imre nl:Emmerich Kálmán ja:カールマーン・イムレ no:Emmerich Kálmán pl:Imre Kálmán ro:Emmerich Kálmán ru:Кальман, Имре sk:Emmerich Kálmán sl:Emmerich Kálmán sr:Имре Калман fi:Emmerich Kálmán sv:Emmerich Kálmán uk:Кальман Імре

}}

Tomáš Dvořák () (born 11 May 1972 in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia) is an athlete from the Czech Republic. He competed in decathlon and heptathlon for the team ''Dukla Prague''. He is triple decathlon world champion (1997, 1999, 2001) and a former world record holder (8,994 points scored in Prague, 1999), which is still second performance in all-time list. This world record was broken by Dvořák's compatriot Roman Šebrle in 2001. Dvořák is the only athlete to score over 8,900 points for three times (and also more than one time).

Dvořák announced retirement in July 2008, after he failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. He now works as an athletic coach.

List of results

1990 CRCJ (Czech Republic Championship of Juniors), Czechoslovakia, heptathlon, 1st

1990 WCJ, decathlon, 17th

1991 ECJ, decathlon, 2nd

1993 WC, Stuttgart (Germany), decathlon, 10th

1994 EIC, Paris (France), heptathlon, 4th

1994 EC, Helsinki (Finland), decathlon, 7th

1995 WIC, Barcelona (Spain), heptathlon, 2nd

1995 WC, Göteborg (Sweden), decathlon, 5th

1996 EIC, Stockholm (Sweden), heptathlon, 2nd

1996 OG, Atlanta (USA), decathlon, 3rd

1997 WC Athens, decathlon, 1st

1998 Goodwill Games, USA, decathlon, 3rd

1998 EIC, Valencia (Spain), heptathlon, 4th

1998 EC Budapest (Hungary), decathlon, 5th

1999 WC Seville, decathlon, 1st

1999 WIC, Maebashi, heptathlon, 4th

2000 EIC, heptathlon, 1st

2000 OG, Sydney (Australia), decathlon, 6th

2001 WC, decathlon, 1st

2001 Goodwill Games (Australia), decathlon, 1st

2002 EIC, Vienna (Austria), heptathlon, 2nd

2003 WIC, Birmingham (UK), heptathlon, 5th

2003 CRIC, Bratislava (Slovakia), 60 m hurdles, 1st

2003 CRIC, Bratislava (Slovakia), shot put, 3rd

2003 WC, Paris (France), decathlon, 4th

2004 CRIC, Praha, 60 m hurdles, 3rd, 7,94

2004 OG, Athens (Greece), decathlon, DNF

2005 WC, Helsinki (Finland), decathlon, 8th

2006 EC, Gothenburg (Sweden), decathlon, 12th

Personal bests

100 m 10.54 s

Long jump 807 cm

Shot put 16.88 m

High jump 209 cm

400 m 47.56 s

110 m hurdles 13.61 s

Discus throw 50.28 m

Pole vault 500 cm

Javelin throw 72.32 m

1500 m 4:27.69 min

Total: 9296 pts.

External links

Dan O'Brien|title=Men's decathlon world record holder|years=4 July 1999 – 27 May 2001|after= Roman Šebrle}} Jonathan Edwards|after= Jan Železný|years=1999}}

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Czech decathletes Category:Olympic bronze medalists for the Czech Republic Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Olympic athletes of the Czech Republic Category:Former world record holders in athletics (track and field) Category:People from Zlín Category:Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)

cs:Tomáš Dvořák de:Tomáš Dvořák et:Tomáš Dvořák fr:Tomáš Dvořák it:Tomáš Dvořák nl:Tomáš Dvořák ja:トマシュ・ドヴォルザーク no:Tomáš Dvořák pl:Tomáš Dvořák ru:Дворжак, Томаш fi:Tomáš Dvořák sv:Tomáš Dvořák

Jean Gilbert (11 February 1879 – 20 December 1942) was a German operetta composer and conductor. His real name was Max Winterfeld. He adopted the name of Jean Gilbert for the production of his first operetta in 1901.

Gilbert was born in Hamburg. He studied at the conservatories of Sondershausen and Weimar, as well as under Philipp Scharwenka in Berlin.

He composed more than 50 operettas before and after World War I, working mainly in Berlin. His most successful work was ''Die keusche Susanne'' (1910). He emigrated to Argentina in 1933, and died in Buenos Aires. His son Robert Gilbert (1899–1978) was also a composer. His cousin was the composer Paul Dessau.

Selected works

''Das Jungfernstift'', 1901, Hamburg

''Polnische Wirtschaft'', 1909, Cottbus

''Die keusche Susanne'', 1910, Magdeburg

''Das Autoliebchen'', 1912, Berlin

:''Ja, das haben die Mädchen so gerne''

''Puppchen'', 1912, Berlin

:''Puppchen, du bist mein Augenstern''

''Die Kino-Königin'', 1913

''Die Frau im Hermelin'', 1919, Berlin

''Katja, die Tänzerin'', 1923, Vienna

''Das Weib in Purpur'', 1923, Vienna

''Annemarie'', 1925, Berlin

''Hotel Stadt Lemberg'', 1929, Hamburg

References

''Reclams Operettenführer'', Anton Würz (ed.), Stuttgart 1962

External links

Stage works

Category:1879 births Category:1942 deaths Category:German composers Category:Opera composers Category:Prix des Deux Magots winners

de:Jean Gilbert it:Jean Gilbert no:Jean Gilbert ro:Jean Gilbert