Page 63 - 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. 63
operetta as safe space
Photo 6: The program for Die lustige Witwe production by Georg Jacoby with Johannes
Heesters (r.) and nude dancer Alberto Spadolini (l.), Berlin 1940 (Collection Marco
Travaglini/Atelier Alberto Spadolini)
phobic program. Via a combination of incitement and denial, at
tacks against ‘Jewish’ morals combined with recommendations for
free actions, the ‘Master Race’ was encouraged to enjoy its privilege.
Within a few years it became clear that the new regime blatantly
advocated pre-marital coitus between teenagers and from the ear
ly 1940s onwards they openly endorsed adultery. This was not just
about higher reproduction rates, but also about higher lust and in
the end the idea that this happiness given to the people was a gift
from the brown rulers.32
Herzog’s conclusion is this:
As paradox as it may sound, the Nazis managed to fuse the wide
spread longing for sexual happiness with the racial and ideological
privilege of the approved non-handicapped heterosexuals, i.e. the
majority of the population.33
This affected operetta, too. Interestingly, the operetta productions that
reflect this pro-sex and pro-nudity ideal of the Nazis have been almost com-
pletely erased from memory. One is a Lustige Witwe production from Ber-
lin 1940, directed by Georg Jacoby. It had Alberto Spadolini as a nude male
dancer from Italy. Spadolini had appeared together with Josephine Baker at
32 Herzog, Paradoxien der sexuellen Liberalisierung, 28.
33 Ibid., 29.
61
Photo 6: The program for Die lustige Witwe production by Georg Jacoby with Johannes
Heesters (r.) and nude dancer Alberto Spadolini (l.), Berlin 1940 (Collection Marco
Travaglini/Atelier Alberto Spadolini)
phobic program. Via a combination of incitement and denial, at
tacks against ‘Jewish’ morals combined with recommendations for
free actions, the ‘Master Race’ was encouraged to enjoy its privilege.
Within a few years it became clear that the new regime blatantly
advocated pre-marital coitus between teenagers and from the ear
ly 1940s onwards they openly endorsed adultery. This was not just
about higher reproduction rates, but also about higher lust and in
the end the idea that this happiness given to the people was a gift
from the brown rulers.32
Herzog’s conclusion is this:
As paradox as it may sound, the Nazis managed to fuse the wide
spread longing for sexual happiness with the racial and ideological
privilege of the approved non-handicapped heterosexuals, i.e. the
majority of the population.33
This affected operetta, too. Interestingly, the operetta productions that
reflect this pro-sex and pro-nudity ideal of the Nazis have been almost com-
pletely erased from memory. One is a Lustige Witwe production from Ber-
lin 1940, directed by Georg Jacoby. It had Alberto Spadolini as a nude male
dancer from Italy. Spadolini had appeared together with Josephine Baker at
32 Herzog, Paradoxien der sexuellen Liberalisierung, 28.
33 Ibid., 29.
61
