ANNIVERSARY GALA WITH IMPERIAL SPLENDOUR AND MILITARY HONOURS
The Gala Performance of A Night in Venice Marked a High Point in the Johann Strauss Operetta Cycle
In 2001, the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna embarked on an ambitious project to present all of Johann Strauss II’ original operettas. Depending on the funding available, the works were performed either as fully staged productions or in concert form, with casts and orchestral forces adapted to the resources at hand. For 2008, the Society reserved A Night in Venice in celebration of the 125th anniversary of its world premiere. The commemorative concert performance took place on 9th December 2008 in the Grand Hall of Vienna’s Hofburg Palace. The event was supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, in cooperation with the Austrian Guard and the Military Command Vienna. From the moment the guests were greeted by an honorary guard lining the grand ceremonial staircase, it was clear that this was a gala occasion of exceptional significance.
Given the scale of the production, the prestige of the venue, and the participation of internationally acclaimed artists, the performance marked the high point to date of the Johann Strauss Society’s Operetta Cycle. The Vienna Guards Band Symphony Orchestra performed under the baton of Colonel Bernhard Heher, Director of Music of the Austrian Armed Forces and Bandmaster of the Guards. They were joined by a chorus of more than seventy singers from BORG Vienna 1, Hegelgasse 12, prepared by Prof. Dr. Peter Hrncirik. The role of Annina was performed by the celebrated soprano Kammersängerin Sona Ghazarian, whose international career began at the Vienna State Opera. The remaining roles were sung by members of the Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna: Peter Widholz as Caramello, Martin Maier as the Duke, Teresa Gardner as Ciboletta, Harald Wurmsdobler as Pappacoda, and Gisela Theisen in the dual roles of Barbara and Agricola. Peter Hrncirik also appeared in the role of Delacqua. The narration was entrusted to another internationally renowned artist, Kammerschauspielerin Marianne Nentwich of Vienna’s Theater in der Josefstadt, who had achieved worldwide recognition through her appearances in numerous distinguished television series. The cast also featured the internationally acclaimed Viennese zither virtuoso Hannelore Laister, who performed the zither solo that Johann Strauss specifically prescribed for the third act.
Public interest in the production was overwhelming from the outset. All 1300 seats had been sold out two weeks before the performance. The gala also attracted a great number of distinguished guests, including Prof. Franz Bauer-Theussl, General Music Director of the Vienna Volksoper, two former Austrian Ministers of Defence, Dr. Werner Fasslabend and Herbert Scheibner, the Italian Ambassador D. Massimo Spinetti, the Military Commander of Vienna, Brigadier Dr. Karl Schmidseder, the Commander of the Guard, Colonel Stefan Kirchebner, and Hedwig Aigner-Strauss, the matriarch of the Strauss family descendants.
The evening proved an overwhelming success, as evidenced by the prologed ovation at the end of the performance. The audience demanded an encore, prompting a repeat of the Act II finale.
The performance was memorable for another reason as well: it left a lasting impression in several ways:
1.The exceptional atmosphere of this evening lingered with both performers and audience long after the final applause. As one reviewer observed:
This evening deserved to be called a gala performance not merely because it celebrated the anniversary of this masterpiece by the Waltz King, but above all because of its unique atmosphere. Rarely does one encounter such heartfelt, almost reverential joy in music-making among everyone involved. The approximately 130 singers and instrumentalists did not simply perform this operetta in concert form – they celebrated it. The sincerity of this shared joy reached the audience from the very first moment, creating a festive spirit in the Great Hall of Vienna’s Hofburg Palace that made each of the approximately 1300 attendees feel not merely like spectators, but like participants in a truly special event.
(Maria Falkenhauer, Wiener Bonbons 1/2009)
2.Around 90% of the cast and orchestra consisted of young musicians and emerging artists. For many of them, this performance marked their first encounter with classical Viennese music. One of the central aims of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna – to pass on this tradition to future generations – was fulfilled that evening to an extraordinary extent.
3.The production was led by conductor Bernhard Heher, whose interpretative approach is firmly rooted in a tradition that can be traced back to Johann Strauss himself. Heher was a pupil of Franz Bauer-Theussl, whose own musical mentor was Anton Paulik. For many decades, Paulik was a conductor at the Vienna Volksoper, where he was regarded as the institution’s musical conscience. He conducted the premieres of numerous operettas from the Silver Age of Viennese Operetta and, earlier in his career, worked with musicians who had themselves performed under Johann Strauss. With Bernhard Heher, the Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna had found a conductor who was able to preserve and present the classical Viennese musical tradition in an authentic manner. Heher joined the Board of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna in 2010 and continues to serve as Chief Conductor of the Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna to this day.
4.The proceeds from the evening were donated entirely to charitable causes. One portion went to the SOS Kinderdorf Floridsdorf, another to Integrationshaus Wien and a further contribution was made to a school in Ried.
Never before in its 72-year history, had the Johann Strauss Society succeeded in achieving so many of its aims in a single evening while also making a meaningful contribution to charitable work.
