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VIENNA GALA PROGRAM
JOHANN STRAUSS
Born March 14, 1804 in Vienna
Died September 25, 1849 in Vienna
JOHANN STRAUSS, JR.
Born October 25, 1825 in Vienna
Died June 3, 1899 in Vienna
FRANZ LEHAR
Born April 30, 1870 in Komárno
Died October 24, 1948, Salzburg
GIUSEPPE VERDI
Born October 10, 1813 in Busseto
Died January 26, 1901 in Milan
The image of nineteenth century Vienna and the Viennese waltz are so closely linked that
one can hardly think of one without the other. As a form, the waltz was in its heyday by 1820.
With the arrival of a younger generation of bandleader/composers, the waltz was lifted to new
heights as a musical composition, especially in Vienna. One of the leading proponents of this
form of entertainment was the brilliant young composer Johann Strauss. His brilliant
composition the Radetzky-March remains an almost patriotic favorite among German speaking
people.
Strauss’ three sons followed him into the “family business” of composition and orchestra
leading with his eldest son, Johann Strauss, Jr. eclipsing his father in popularity and becoming
his chief rival. Spurred on by the popularity of the waltz, other dance forms such as the polka
and the march also became quite the rage in Vienna. Under the masterful hands of the Strauss
family and other leading composers of the day, these dance forms of “light” music inspired
composers as varied as Brahms, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss to include waltzes of
a similar nature into their own compositions.
Without a doubt Johann Strauss, Jr. earned his title of the “Waltz King.” His is the first
name associated with the Viennese waltz, and his output in this genre numbers in excess of 165.
He further composed another 231 polkas, marches and quadrilles. The city of Vienna could not
usher in a New Year without the playing of his most famous waltz, An der schönen, blauen
Donau.
Im Krapfenwaldl is a perennial favorite French style polka composed for the summer
concerts in Pavlovsk, Russia where he conducted concerts between 1856 and 1865. Stürmisch in
Lieb’ und Tanz is a fast polka originally appearing in Strauss’ operetta Das Spitzentuch der
Königen. Strauss also borrowed themes from popular works of other composers. He so enjoyed
Verdi’s opera Un ballo maschera that he developed themes from the opera into his quadrille
Maskenball. Electrofor is a lively fast polka published in 1865.
Although the composer of three brilliant light operas, Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in
Venedig (“A night in Venice”) and Der Zigeunerbaron (“The Gypsy Baron”), Strauss did not
always pick the best libretti. Most of his sixteen light operas are relatively obscure. Always the
busimessman, he did, however, recycle many of the dances from these operettas into stand alone
pieces. One of the most famous of these is Rosen aus dem Suden (“Roses of the South”) that
originally appeared in operetta Das Spitzentuch der Königen.
Lehár was born in the northern part of Komárom, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary
(now Komárno, Slovakia), the eldest son of a bandmaster in the Infantry Regiment No. 50 of the
Austro-Hungarian Army.
While his younger brother Anton entered cadet school in Vienna to become a
professional officer, Franz studied violin and composition at the Prague Conservatory, where his
violin teacher was Antonín Bennewitz, but was advised by Antonín Dvořák to focus on
composing music. After graduation in 1899 he joined his father's band in Vienna, as assistant
bandmaster. In 1902 he became conductor at the historic Vienna Theater an der Wien, where his
first opera Wiener Frauen was performed in November of that year.
He is most famous for his operettas – the most successful of which is The Merry Widow
(Die lustige Witwe) – but he also wrote sonatas, symphonic poems, marches, and a number of
waltzes (the most popular being Gold und Silber, composed for Princess Pauline von
Metternich's "Gold and Silver" Ball, January 1902), some of which were drawn from his famous
operettas. Individual songs from some of the operettas have become standards, notably "Vilja"
from The Merry Widow and "You Are My Heart's Delight" ("Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") from
The Land of Smiles (Das Land des Lächelns).
Lehár was also associated with the operatic tenor Richard Tauber, who sang in many of
his operettas, beginning with Frasquita (1922), in which Lehár once again found a suitable postwar style. Between 1925 and 1934 he wrote six operettas specifically for Tauber's voice. By
1935 he decided to form his own publishing house, Glocken-Verlag (“Publishing House of the
Bells”), to maximize his personal control over performance rights to his works.
Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the
most influential composers of the 19th century. His works are frequently performed in opera
houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes
have long since taken root in popular culture - such as "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va,
pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The
Drinking Song) from La traviata and the "Grand March" from Aida. Although his work was
sometimes criticized for using a generally diatonic rather than a chromatic musical idiom and
having a tendency toward melodrama, Verdi’s masterworks dominate the standard repertoire a
century and a half after their composition.
I vespri siciliani is an opéra in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi
set to a French libretto by Charles Duveyrier and Eugène Scribe from their work Le duc d'Albe.
It is based on a historical event, the Sicilian Vespers of 1282, using material drawn from the
medieval Sicilian tract Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia. It was first performed at the Paris Opéra on
13 June 1855. The festive atmospheric quality of maiden heroine Elena opening the final Act of
the opera, in which she gives thanks to all: Mercé, dilette amiche / "Merci, jeunes amies"
/"Thank you, beloved friends" a soaring celebration of friendship lined with vocal acrobatics.
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