Page 50 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
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opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama
It seems obvious that the type of humor reflected in Offenbach’s shows was
Morny’s type of humor, it’s also very much the type of humor of the Jock-
ey Club, and it’s probably also the humor of Napoléon III himself who reg-
ularly attended Offenbach performances – even though he detested opera.
Only with this kind of triple protection is it understandable that Offen-
bach’s opéras bouffes were ever allowed to be performed in Paris in an oth-
erwise highly restricted and censored theater system. “You know better than
anyone,” Offenbach wrote to Ernest Lépine, private secretary to Morny, “all
that he has done for me … how he went out of his way to protect us.”14
That Morny surrounded himself with talented Jews – Halévy, Meilhac,
and Offenbach – “did not go unnoticed by a disapproving aristocracy,” writes
Strauss-Schom.15 That Morny’s mistress, Cora Pearl, later taken over by Na-
poléon III himself, went onto the stage in 1867 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Pa-
risiens for a revival of Orphée aux enfers as a demi-nude Cupid didn’t go
unnoticed either. There are lengthy articles in the press, British newspapers
included, that report on the event and list the names of those who attended
the opening night. It’s a Who’s Who? of the highest social circles in Europe,
plus the entire (!) Paris based press. The Daily News from London writes:
The attraction was the see by strong gaslight and the aid of op
era-glasses […] the real form and features of a personage whom the
non-privileged public had only been wont to admire in the man
ifold amplifications of skirts and crinoline. This attraction […]
raised the prices of the most uncomfortable single seats to two Na
poleons […]. A frisson d’attente, we are told, awaited the appear
ance of the débutante, who came forward with her stays and slip
pers – almost her only clothing – glittering with diamonds.16
Having catapulted Offenbach and opéra bouffe into the upper social
spheres of France, and bringing representatives from other countries to
opéra bouffe, meant that the genre quickly established itself in equal so-
cial regions elsewhere. About the situation in Vienna we read in Mari-
on Lindhardt’s Residenzstadt und Metropole: Zu einer kulturellen Topog
raphie des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918): “The interest of high
and highest circles of the imperial family in productions of Offenbach in the
14 Offenbach quoted in Strauss-Schom, The Shadow Emperor, 20.
15 Strauss-Schom, The Shadow Emperor, 20.
16 Anon., “France,” The Daily News [London], January 30, 1867.
48
It seems obvious that the type of humor reflected in Offenbach’s shows was
Morny’s type of humor, it’s also very much the type of humor of the Jock-
ey Club, and it’s probably also the humor of Napoléon III himself who reg-
ularly attended Offenbach performances – even though he detested opera.
Only with this kind of triple protection is it understandable that Offen-
bach’s opéras bouffes were ever allowed to be performed in Paris in an oth-
erwise highly restricted and censored theater system. “You know better than
anyone,” Offenbach wrote to Ernest Lépine, private secretary to Morny, “all
that he has done for me … how he went out of his way to protect us.”14
That Morny surrounded himself with talented Jews – Halévy, Meilhac,
and Offenbach – “did not go unnoticed by a disapproving aristocracy,” writes
Strauss-Schom.15 That Morny’s mistress, Cora Pearl, later taken over by Na-
poléon III himself, went onto the stage in 1867 at the Théâtre des Bouffes Pa-
risiens for a revival of Orphée aux enfers as a demi-nude Cupid didn’t go
unnoticed either. There are lengthy articles in the press, British newspapers
included, that report on the event and list the names of those who attended
the opening night. It’s a Who’s Who? of the highest social circles in Europe,
plus the entire (!) Paris based press. The Daily News from London writes:
The attraction was the see by strong gaslight and the aid of op
era-glasses […] the real form and features of a personage whom the
non-privileged public had only been wont to admire in the man
ifold amplifications of skirts and crinoline. This attraction […]
raised the prices of the most uncomfortable single seats to two Na
poleons […]. A frisson d’attente, we are told, awaited the appear
ance of the débutante, who came forward with her stays and slip
pers – almost her only clothing – glittering with diamonds.16
Having catapulted Offenbach and opéra bouffe into the upper social
spheres of France, and bringing representatives from other countries to
opéra bouffe, meant that the genre quickly established itself in equal so-
cial regions elsewhere. About the situation in Vienna we read in Mari-
on Lindhardt’s Residenzstadt und Metropole: Zu einer kulturellen Topog
raphie des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918): “The interest of high
and highest circles of the imperial family in productions of Offenbach in the
14 Offenbach quoted in Strauss-Schom, The Shadow Emperor, 20.
15 Strauss-Schom, The Shadow Emperor, 20.
16 Anon., “France,” The Daily News [London], January 30, 1867.
48
