Page 57 - 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
P. 57
operetta as safe space
by Millöcker, Ziehrer, Zeller, striving for ‘respectability’ and a more ‘Sing-
spiel’ format. It’s a counter movement that can also be witnessed in Eng-
land, with Gilbert & Sullivan at the forefront.
This means that another form of safe space was created, a space where
it was possible to take the family without having to fear for their reputation.
Carolyn Williams in her 2011 book Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, G enre,
Parody calls it “a capitulation to bourgeois respectability”26 because the au-
thors and producer made a decision “to emphasize the respectably of the Sa
voy operas.” Williams calls this “a canny attempt at niche marketing.”27
Gilbert especially was scrupulous – even avuncular and fussy –
about correct middle-class feminine behavior, insisting that the fe
male members of the Chorus not be thought coarse in any way. […]
The women of the Savoy Chorus were marketed as exceptionally
beautiful, but chaste – to be looked at, but not to be approached.28
So, after the initial boom of operettas à la Offenbach and Hervé, we get
a second boom that wanted to create an almost opposite safe space for re-
spectability-focused audiences who wanted to enjoy the thrill of operetta,
without having to fear for their good name. Which doesn’t mean that in
Gilbert & Sullivan, or Zeller, Ziehrer and Millöcker, there isn’t an under-
current of original operetta naughtiness.
In his novel Operettenkönige: Ein Wiener Theaterroman, Franz von
Hohenegg describes the situation at Theater an der Wien and the 1905 pre-
miere of what is, in effect, Mizzi Günther singing the Merry Widow, here
as ‘Mizzi Rittmann’ performing with tenor ‘Arno Springer’ (= Louis Treu-
mann, famous for his acrobatic jumping). We have moved forward three
decades from the original Offenbach and operetta boom, also in Vienna.
Still, the operetta diva in Hohenegg’s novel has had sex with almost every-
one in the stalls. About her opening night at the Theater an der Wien we
learn:
The hautvolee and the hautdemimonde are certainly and com
pletely present. […] The balconies are filled with state employees
26 Carolyn Williams, Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody (New York: Colum-
bia University Press, 2011), 20.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., 21.
55
by Millöcker, Ziehrer, Zeller, striving for ‘respectability’ and a more ‘Sing-
spiel’ format. It’s a counter movement that can also be witnessed in Eng-
land, with Gilbert & Sullivan at the forefront.
This means that another form of safe space was created, a space where
it was possible to take the family without having to fear for their reputation.
Carolyn Williams in her 2011 book Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, G enre,
Parody calls it “a capitulation to bourgeois respectability”26 because the au-
thors and producer made a decision “to emphasize the respectably of the Sa
voy operas.” Williams calls this “a canny attempt at niche marketing.”27
Gilbert especially was scrupulous – even avuncular and fussy –
about correct middle-class feminine behavior, insisting that the fe
male members of the Chorus not be thought coarse in any way. […]
The women of the Savoy Chorus were marketed as exceptionally
beautiful, but chaste – to be looked at, but not to be approached.28
So, after the initial boom of operettas à la Offenbach and Hervé, we get
a second boom that wanted to create an almost opposite safe space for re-
spectability-focused audiences who wanted to enjoy the thrill of operetta,
without having to fear for their good name. Which doesn’t mean that in
Gilbert & Sullivan, or Zeller, Ziehrer and Millöcker, there isn’t an under-
current of original operetta naughtiness.
In his novel Operettenkönige: Ein Wiener Theaterroman, Franz von
Hohenegg describes the situation at Theater an der Wien and the 1905 pre-
miere of what is, in effect, Mizzi Günther singing the Merry Widow, here
as ‘Mizzi Rittmann’ performing with tenor ‘Arno Springer’ (= Louis Treu-
mann, famous for his acrobatic jumping). We have moved forward three
decades from the original Offenbach and operetta boom, also in Vienna.
Still, the operetta diva in Hohenegg’s novel has had sex with almost every-
one in the stalls. About her opening night at the Theater an der Wien we
learn:
The hautvolee and the hautdemimonde are certainly and com
pletely present. […] The balconies are filled with state employees
26 Carolyn Williams, Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody (New York: Colum-
bia University Press, 2011), 20.
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., 21.
55
