Page 51 - 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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operetta as safe space
1860s at Carltheater and Theater am Franz-Josefs-Kai is remarkable,” writes
L inhardt, “these shows were presented in a glittering setting.”17
Given the imperial stamp of approval it’s not surprising that the
Carltheater in Prateralle quickly became the “ favorite playground of the
moneyed classes and those who thrived to join in their ranks.”18 Next to the
imperial family, the entire
financial world, the wealthy middle classes, multitudes of stock bro
kers who enjoyed their moment in the sunshine of the economic
boom, and the opulent flowers of the demi-monde, all came to pa
rade in the luxury of vanity fair of (Prater) street,
writes the Illustrirte [sic] Zeitung.19
Sexual Liberation on Stage
What does such a performance situation mean for the actual shows? It’s
clear that the high class gentlemen and their mistresses did not primari-
ly support operetta because of the melodic beauty and harmonic inventive-
ness of the scores. There must have been another dimension that attracted
them, and that needs to be considered when dealing with Offenbach and/or
opéra bouffe. That dimension was not just the brothel atmosphere of oper-
etta theaters, but also the positive space that such an atmosphere opened up.
The sexual liberty demonstrated in operettas of this era is stagger-
ing; it’s a counter concept to the prevailing moral value system of the time,
which in France and Austria was dictated by the Catholic church. Offen-
bach’s shows are decidedly blasphemous, poking fun at religious leaders
again and again, but also at devout Christians like Bluebeard who believes
he can only ‘bed’ a women if he marries her first, and who cannot divorce
her afterwards, so he has to wait till death parts them. The grotesque con-
sequences of such a mind-set are played out in the 1867 Barbe-bleue which
starred Hortense Schneider as the lusty maid who brings the patriarchy
crashing down and starts a revolution of women against male oppression
and Catholic morals. She’s a clear forerunner of women’s suffrage, and a
symbol for operetta’s radical modernity.
17 Marion Lindhardt, Residenzstadt und Metropole: Zu einer kulturellen Topographie
des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918) (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag,
2006), 58.
18 Ibid., 34–5.
19 Anon., “Wiener Bilder. Der Prater,” Illustrirte Zeitung (Vienna), May 21, 1881.
49
1860s at Carltheater and Theater am Franz-Josefs-Kai is remarkable,” writes
L inhardt, “these shows were presented in a glittering setting.”17
Given the imperial stamp of approval it’s not surprising that the
Carltheater in Prateralle quickly became the “ favorite playground of the
moneyed classes and those who thrived to join in their ranks.”18 Next to the
imperial family, the entire
financial world, the wealthy middle classes, multitudes of stock bro
kers who enjoyed their moment in the sunshine of the economic
boom, and the opulent flowers of the demi-monde, all came to pa
rade in the luxury of vanity fair of (Prater) street,
writes the Illustrirte [sic] Zeitung.19
Sexual Liberation on Stage
What does such a performance situation mean for the actual shows? It’s
clear that the high class gentlemen and their mistresses did not primari-
ly support operetta because of the melodic beauty and harmonic inventive-
ness of the scores. There must have been another dimension that attracted
them, and that needs to be considered when dealing with Offenbach and/or
opéra bouffe. That dimension was not just the brothel atmosphere of oper-
etta theaters, but also the positive space that such an atmosphere opened up.
The sexual liberty demonstrated in operettas of this era is stagger-
ing; it’s a counter concept to the prevailing moral value system of the time,
which in France and Austria was dictated by the Catholic church. Offen-
bach’s shows are decidedly blasphemous, poking fun at religious leaders
again and again, but also at devout Christians like Bluebeard who believes
he can only ‘bed’ a women if he marries her first, and who cannot divorce
her afterwards, so he has to wait till death parts them. The grotesque con-
sequences of such a mind-set are played out in the 1867 Barbe-bleue which
starred Hortense Schneider as the lusty maid who brings the patriarchy
crashing down and starts a revolution of women against male oppression
and Catholic morals. She’s a clear forerunner of women’s suffrage, and a
symbol for operetta’s radical modernity.
17 Marion Lindhardt, Residenzstadt und Metropole: Zu einer kulturellen Topographie
des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918) (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag,
2006), 58.
18 Ibid., 34–5.
19 Anon., “Wiener Bilder. Der Prater,” Illustrirte Zeitung (Vienna), May 21, 1881.
49
