Operetta

Operetta as a genre developed in the mid-nineteenth century as a response to audiences' demands for more lighter hearted music dramas than what was currently on offer. The greatest operetta composers of the nineteenth century were Offenbach in the France of the Second Empire and Johann Strauss II in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Both wrote genre- defining work (La belle Hélène and Die Fledermaus respectively). In Victorian Britain, Gilbert & Sullivan wrote the highly successful 'Savoy' operas which poked gentle fun at the British establishment. Although operetta shares many similarities with opera it differs from the older genre in a number of ways: farcical plots, self-contained arias and extensive spoken interludes (much like the German Zingspiel) - Very few operettas are through composed. In the 20th century operetta gave way to the Broadway musical although elements of the older genre are still visible, particularly in the work of Stephen Sondheim.

Key Works: Benatzky/Stolz/Granichstaedten: Im weißen Rößl (The White Horse Inn), Friml: Rose-Marie, The Vagabond King, Lehar: Giuditta, Der Graf von Luxemburg, Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles), Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), Millocker: Der Bettelstudent, Offenbach: Barbe-bleue, La belle Hélène, Orphée aux enfers (Orpheus in the Underworld), La vie parisienne, La Périchole, J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig, Der Zigeunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), Suppe: Leichte Kavallerie (Light Cavalary), Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore, Iolanthe, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance, Ruddigore, The Yeoman of the Guard

Key Artists: Otto Ackermann, Willi Boskovsky, Nicolai Gedda, Hilde Gueden, Felicity Lott, Marc Minkowski, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Rita Streich, Richard Tauber, D'Oyly Carte Opera Company