# Let's talk operetta



## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

So I've been dipping my feet into this light genre (don't worry, I've been devoting the last three months to primarily Wagner and Verdi! :lol: ) And with the recent discussion of G&S and the Mikado I thought maybe the forum would be open to chatting a bit about operetta.

I downloaded the Merry Widow several months ago, but never really gave it a chance because I was put off by the mono sound. But I gave it another chance recently and enjoyed it. I am really enjoying the "My Heart Alone" album from Simon Keenlyside and Angelika Kirchschlager, enough that I decided to dig around a little more in the genre. Last night I downloaded an album of best of tidbits from Emmerich Kalman.

Not a genre I'll spend a lot of time in, but I love variety and I love beauty in music. With very few exceptions, diving into a new area of music is a delight for me.


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## Couac Addict (Oct 16, 2013)

Operetta...France's joke on the world. 

It used to be performed by courtesans instead of trained singers. Productions were just one, big wild nude party on stage. It has since been toned down so there's really no reason to endure one now 

Once translated, no one gets the jokes and puns and so it's often confused with seria or some sort. The anti-Semitic jokes in Tales of Hoffman get mysteriously forgotten or mistranslated to not cause offence and Wagner takes the heat, once again.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I can chuckle at the text and appreciate the music of works by Offenbach, Lehar, J. Strauss and others and yet Gilbert & Sullivan's output annoys the hell out of me for some reason. This conundrum remains one of my great unanswerables.


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## Sonata (Aug 7, 2010)

Yeah, I'm not going the G&S route.....I'm so use to my vocal classical music being something I CAN'T understand. I'm mainly staying in the realm of Lehar, Kalman, Strauss route at this point anyway.


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Try this. It never fails to lift my spirits. If you're going to sing operetta, then this is definitely the way to do it.










Also any and all of Wunderlich's glorious operetta recordings!


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I don't mind the Viennese operettas (and yes, definitely when sung by Wunderlich), but I've never been able to warm up to Gilbert and Sullivan -- rather strange given my interest in the history, literature, and architecture of the Victorian era. One of these days, I'll probably buy Jonas Kaufmann's recording of German operetta from the '20s and '30s to see what that's like.


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## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I enjoy the old J. Strauss recordings.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

_Vienna Blue _all the way, infinitely and endlessly. . . 'Dutchess only' please. _;D_


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## Vesteralen (Jul 14, 2011)

This has been on my non-frequent rotation for the last two months. Just listened to it for the third time yesterday. One more to go.

I like it a little better each time I listen to it. But, since so far, I've only listened to it while I'm working, I don't have any idea what it's all about.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

I really love Der Zigeunerbaron, Die Fledermaus, both from Johann Strauss II, Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince, and Lehar's Die lustige Witwe (TheMerry Widow). My first Gilbert and Sullivan was not too successful. Maybe it only needs better singers, I don't know yet, why I cringed on The Mikado. I was mostly bothered by the style of singing.


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## MoonlightSonata (Mar 29, 2014)

I adore the works of Gilbert and Sullivan. It's so light and amusing.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Ephemera? Kitsch? Trash?- 'none of the above': Absolutely 'delightful.'


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Lehar's 'The Land of Smiles': this CD is only highlights, but it contains some of the most ravishing singing I've ever heard, by Tony Poncet and Renee Doria (as well as bits of dialogue that sound almost indecently sexy in French). Some of the faux-chinoiserie is a bit embarrassing, but with singing of this calibre, who cares? The tunes are mostly magnificent- though I can live without the hackneyed 'Dein ist mein ganzes Herz': too much Tauber at an impressionable age, perhaps! The other two arias for Prince Sou-Chong (see what they did there?- groan) are lovely and seductively sung, as are the duets for Sou-chong and Lisa.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

The CPO series in Lehar's operettas is a winner (some misgivings granted such as some variable singings here and there and less than scholastic presentation and no libretti). But I enjoy it a great deal. Der Zarewitsch is quite wonderful (does not replace my Eurodisc album with Popp, Kollo, Wallberg but still a nice addition), and I love "Schön ist die Welt" (revised version of Endlich allein or Alone at Last). Gypsy Love is very well done also.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

One thing I have thought of operettas is how unknown Italian operettas are. While Italy is the leading country when it comes to opera Italian operettas are mostly unknown still they exist Leoncavallo for example composed as many operettas as operas.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Seems to me that this would qualify as an operetta (this a very good performance too):


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## Retired (Feb 15, 2015)

Operetta is a staple of the German speaking musical theater. Any young singer that expects to work in this part of Europe had best prepared to participate, unless you are a Manrico or Siegfried!!! Its great fun and excellent vocalism is expected..and you had best speak the language well enough to be believable...or you didn't get the job. At my first engagement in Europe, at one point I was in Don Giovanni, Cenerentola, Tosca, and Banditenstreiche...and often all in the same week. Was a great opportunity to lighten things up and have fun.

I'm also a fan of Der Ziguenerbaron...but Der Wildschutz is a gem....not often heard outside Germany..." Fünftausend Taler!!!"....not so easy to explain to Gretchen


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I would prefer if they staged operettas instead of musicals.


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## sabrina (Apr 26, 2011)

Retired said:


> Operetta is a staple of the German speaking musical theater. Any young singer that expects to work in this part of Europe had best prepared to participate, unless you are a Manrico or Siegfried!!! Its great fun and excellent vocalism is expected..and you had best speak the language well enough to be believable...or you didn't get the job. At my first engagement in Europe, at one point I was in Don Giovanni, Cenerentola, Tosca, and Banditenstreiche...and often all in the same week. Was a great opportunity to lighten things up and have fun.


Wow! Amazing! What role did you sing in Don Giovanni? I love Mozart...right now Don Giovanni and Di Zauberflöte are my favourites!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Great line from an episode of The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries:

Dr Simms: 'What do you think of Gilbert & Sullivan?'

Adela Bradley: 'I'd rather they'd never met..'


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