Successful revival of the forgotten operetta „ Dorfmusikanten“ by Oscar Straus

 

The Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna actually planned to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its foundation with an operetta by Johann Strauss. However, the two corona lockdowns in March and November 2020 required a change of programme. The concert intended to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Oscar Straus‘ birth had to be postponed by one year. It was celebrated in November 2021 with a scenic production of the operetta „ Dorfmusikanten“, a successful revival of a piece which had completely fallen into oblivion. It is surprising that the greatest  operetta aficionados  could not even remember its title.

In spite of the peope’s widespread reluctance to attend performances for fear of infection with the corona virus, the Assembly Hall of the Amtshaus Hietzing was filled to capacity. Even the 98-year-old granddaughter of the composer, Inge Prebil-Straus,was present at the performance together with her son and her daughter-in-law. The audience thoroughly enjoyed being at a concert of the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna after such a long time, and this feeling   created a very special atmosphere. This mood was enhanced by the celebration of the Silver Jubilee of the Ensemble. Besides, the coincidence that the operetta „Dorfmusikanten“ was composed in 1919, when the Spanish flu pandemic claimed many victims, intensified the effect that the operetta had on the audience.  „Dorfmusikanten“ is the first piece which Oscar Straus composed after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The libretto clearly reflects the political and social changes that had taken place. The operetta is set in an agricultural milieu and dispenses almost completely with members of the aristocracy. Even the musical language of the composer is different. He sometimes uses operatic melos, but in spite of his groundbreaking melodies  Oscar Straus never intends his work to be ostensibly popular.

The performers were rewarded with prolonged applause. The successful revival of the operetta „Dorfmusikanten“ was greatly appreciated in a letter from Inge Prebil-Straus, the composer’s granddaughter:

To
Johann Strauss Gesellschaft
attn: Prof.Mag. Peter Widholz

 

Dear Mr. President,

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the wonderful performance of  „Dorfmusikanten“, a vastly underrated operetta of my grandfather Oscar Straus.  I am grateful that I was able to experience this extremely successful performance in spite of the pandemic-related difficulties. It was a wonderful enrichment for me at my rather advanced age.

I wish you and the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna all the best and hope that some more musical rarities of my grandfather will be performed in the near future.

Kind regards,

 

Inge Prebil-Straus                                                                   Maria Enzersdorf, April 2022

 

Despite all pandemic-related difficulties the Classical Operetta Ensemble Vienna succeeded in mounting an impressive celebration of the 25th anniversary of its foundation.  The past quarter century has been a success story for the Johann Strauss Society of Vienna. The Ensemble was founded in 1996 by Peter Widholz, who was an ordinary member of the Johann Strauss Society at that time, with the aim of getting financial support for the completion of the New Johann Strauss Edition. At the same time Franz Mailer, the then president, wanted to help the society to gain a higher degree of recognition.

Over the past 25 years the Ensemble has presented almost 300 performances at home and abroad, in which about 80 artists were involved. Among them were the opera singers Sona Ghazarian and Heinz Zednik, the Chief Musical Director Franz Bauer-Theussl, the actresses Johanna Matz and Marianne Nentwich, Helga Papouschek, Waltraut Haas and Herbert Prikopa as well as the Head of the Austrian Military Band, Bernhard Heher.

With the public performance of „Dorfmusikanten“ the Ensemble successfully realised their goal to revive unjustly forgotten operettas and demonstrated that they were able to do so even in difficult and most challenging times.

 

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