Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Operetta

Carl Zeller Birthday Operetta Cool Down Music

If you’re of the opinion that 90 degree June days are for the birds, then you should be delighted to join me in celebrating the birthday today of Carl Zeller (1842-1898), the Austrian composer best known for his operetta “Der Vogelhändler,” or “The Bird Seller.” We’ll hear a sampling of his music, alongside that of fellow birthday celebrants Johann Stamitz (1717-1757), founding father of the Mannheim school (it’s actually his baptismal day), and Alfredo Catalani (1854-1893), composer of “La Wally,” which, to my knowledge, is still the only opera to end with an avalanche. If that doesn’t cool you down, I don’t know what will. We’ll have an avalanche of great music from 4 to 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

June 19, 2017
Sigmund Romberg’s Birthday & Dream Casting

Sigmund Romberg was born on this date in 1887. Romberg, of course, was the super-successful composer of musicals and operettas like “The Student Prince,” “Desert Song” and “New Moon.”

His life was made into a film, “Deep in My Heart,” in 1954. If you were to make a film about Sigmund Romberg, who would you cast in the title role? Why, José Ferrer, of course! This would be after Ferrer’s Academy Award-winning turn as Cyrano de Bergerac, by the way.

Here’s a radio broadcast promoting the film, featuring much of the cast, including Helen Traubel, Rosemary Clooney, Jane Powell, Vic Damone, Gene and Fred Kelly, Ann Miller, Tony Martin, and Howard Keel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyoG8x_x1BU

PHOTO: José Ferrer, skating on Oscar gold

July 29, 2015
Jacques Offenbach A Master of Operetta

Like Victor Herbert – though born 40 years earlier, in 1819 – Jacques Offenbach was a master of operetta who gained experience as a cellist in theater orchestras. (Herbert even made it as far as the Metropolitan Opera.)

In Offenbach’s case, he finally attained a permanent position at Paris’ Opéra-Comique. Of course, his temperament was such that he was always getting busted down in pay for playing pranks during performances. Once, he rigged everyone’s music stands to collapse in mid-performance.

Nevertheless, he managed to make a favorable impression on composer and conductor Fromental Halévy, who gave him private lessons in composition and orchestration. (Offenbach had left the Paris Conservatory out of boredom a year into his formal studies.)

With the help of Friedrich von Flotow, another future luminary of the musical stage, Offenbach gained access to the salon circuit. In this way, he bolstered his reputation as a performer and a composer. He toured France and Germany, performing with musicians such as Liszt and Anton Rubinstein. In England, he met Mendelssohn and Joseph Joachim.

Upon his return to Paris, he subtly altered his image from a cellist who happened to compose to a composer who played the cello. When the salons began to dry up, Offenbach gained employment as the musical director of the Comédie Française. There, he gained valuable experience actually writing for the stage, though his success did not transfer to the Opéra-Comique. Debussy noted that the musical establishment of the time had difficulty coping with the composer’s sense of irony.

By the time Offenbach finally did crack the Opéra-Comique with “The Tales of Hoffmann,” he was already in the grave. Though he died before putting the finishing touches on his opera, the orchestration was completed by other hands, and the work has not been out of the repertoire since.

Undoubtedly, somewhere in heaven, Offenbach is sawing half-way through the columns of the harps, and enjoying the last laugh.

Happy birthday, Jacques Offenbach!

June 20, 2015

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