Ball in the Savoy (operetta)

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Work data
Title: Ball in the Savoy
Shape: operetta
Original language: German
Music: Paul Abraham
Libretto : Alfred Grünwald and Fritz Löhner-Beda
Premiere: December 23, 1932
Place of premiere: Berlin
Place and time of the action: Venice and Nice around 1930
people
  • Madeleine de Faublas ( soprano )
  • Marquis Aristide de Faublas, her husband ( tenor )
  • Daisy Darlington, jazz composer ( soubrette )
  • Mustapha Bey, Turkish embassy attaché ( tenorbuffo )
  • Tangolita, an Argentine dancer ( alto )
  • Archibald, Aristides valet ( baritone )
  • Mustapha Bey's six divorced women (actresses):
  • Célestin Formant (actor)
  • Pomerol, the waiter in the "Savoy" (actor)
  • Monsieur Albert, head of a Parisian fashion salon (actor)
  • Ernest Bennuet, a young friend of Celestin's (actor)
  • Bébé, Madeleine's maid (actress)
  • Guests at Faublas, hotel guests, hotel staff, ball guests, dancers ( choir , ballet and extras)

Ball im Savoy is an operetta in a prelude and three acts by Paul Abraham . The libretto is by Alfred Grünwald and Fritz Löhner-Beda . The premiere took place on December 23, 1932 in the Great Theater in Berlin. The main actors were Gitta Alpár , Rosy Barsony and Oskar Dénes .

orchestra

A flute, two clarinets, a bassoon, two horns, three trumpets, two trombones, a harp, two banjos, two pianos, large percussion and strings

action

foreplay

Image: Palaces with the Grand Canal in Venice

A few hours ago the rich nobleman Aristide de Faublas married the charming Madeleine. Immediately after the wedding, the two went on their honeymoon in Venice.

first act

Image: Hall of a villa in Nice

Now the couple is moving into Aristide's villa in Nice. To celebrate this event with dignity, it has invited numerous friends, including the Turkish embassy attaché Mustapha Bey. When the mood reached its peak, Aristide's valet Archibald delivered a telegram to his master. It comes from his former lover Tangolita, a dancer who has fallen into disrepute because of her lifestyle. When Aristide dumped her for falling in love with Madeleine, he wanted to sweeten the breakup with a generous check. The perky dancer, however, refused the check and instead made him promise that he would take her to the gala dinner whenever it occurred to her. And today of all times she feels like it.

Aristide lets his friend Mustapha Bey in on the secret of the telegram. Both consider how best to cope with the messy situation, and soon the Turk has an idea ...

Valet Archibald comes in with a second telegram. It is said to have been written by a composer named “Pasodoble”. He asks the landlord to visit him in the evening at the “Savoy” hotel in Nice, where he will conduct his latest work in the ballroom. What Aristide and Mustapha Bey do not suspect is that the jazz composer Daisy Darlington hides behind the pseudonym “Pasodoble” and that she is friends with Madeleine. At the request of the Turk, who has recently fallen in love with her, she gave up the fake telegram, but at the same time sent Madeleine a message about this strange game. Madeleine is amazed when she learns what her husband is up to. Just married for a short time and then he's cheating on her! She has to see it with her own eyes. Off to the "Savoy"!

Second act

Image: anteroom to the ballroom of the "Savoy" in Nice

At the ball in the “Savoy”, Madeleine caught the young legal trainee Célestin in the eye. Because he is very shy, Madeleine takes the initiative. She lures him into a separate room, not realizing that her husband is dining with Tangolita in the adjacent separate room. When Aristide wants to have a phone call with his wife, who thinks he is at home, Ober Pomerol reroutes it to the next section. At first it seems as if Madeleine is getting involved in the game, but soon her collar bursts. She publicly accuses her husband of being unfaithful. Aristide feels humiliated and leaves the ball angrily.

Third act

Image: Hall of a villa in Nice

While Madeleine's behavior is approved by most, Aristide is determined to get a divorce. Over the phone he asks a law firm to send him a lawyer who specializes in divorce. Shortly afterwards, the lawyer calls in. To Aristide's surprise, it is the young man who adored his wife like a schoolboy at the ball in the “Savoy”. He assures his client that nothing at all has taken place between him and Madeleine that suggests marital infidelity. Daisy Darlington, in turn, can convince her friend Madeleine that Aristide has not committed an affair either. Little by little, the quarreling couple reconciles.

Mustapha Bey doesn’t give up on conquering the Daisy Darlington he loves. He's been married six times. In order to emphasize his advertising, he has all of his ex-wives march: Mizzi from Vienna, Blanca from Prague, Lucia from Rome, Mercedes from Madrid, Trude from Berlin and Ilonka from Budapest. And lo and behold! All give Mustapha an excellent testimony. Ultimately, Daisy is also inclined to become the Turk's seventh wife.

Known songs

  • It's so nice to go shopping in the evening
  • La bella tangolita
  • Oh Mister Brown
  • When we kiss Turks
  • Are you loyal to me
  • I have a man who loves me
  • Toujours l'amour
  • Kangaroo ( parodied by Iska Geri in April 1941 , credited as author: Gustav Thorlichen, Deutsche Grammophon 47532 H)
  • Seville

Film adaptations

Recordings

The first recordings took place a few weeks before the premiere. Under the direction of the composer, a number of numbers of the operetta were recorded with some soloists from the premiere cast. A Lindström studio orchestra with Otto Dobrindt staff and conducted by Paul Abraham (referred to as the Odeon artist orchestra on the record labels ) served as the accompanying orchestra .

Many dance orchestras recorded titles from the operetta, followed by a small selection of exemplary contemporary recordings.

Odeon artist orchestra, conducted by Paul Abraham
  • What does a woman get from fidelity? ( Gitta Alpár ) (Odeon O-11770, Berlin, December 1932)
  • Why am i in love with you ( Oscar Dénes / Rosy Barsony ) (Odeon O-11771, Berlin, December 1932)
  • Toujours l'amour (Gitta Alpar) (Odeon O-11770, Berlin, December 1932)
  • It's so nice to stroll in the evening (Oscar Dénes / Rosy Barsony) (Odeon O-11771, Berlin, December 1932)
  • Oh Mister Brown! (Oscar Dénes / Rosy Barsony) (Odeon O-11786, Berlin, January 1933)
  • I have a man who loves me (Gitta Alpar) (Odeon O-11785, Berlin, January 1933)
  • La bella Tangolita (Gitta Alpar) (Odeon O-11785, Berlin, January 1933)
  • When we kiss Turks (Oscar Dénes) (Odeon O-11786, Berlin, January 1933)
  • Venezia dreams (Gitta Alpar and Herbert Ernst Groh ) (Odeon O-11790, Berlin, January 1933)
  • Are you true to me (Gitta Alpar and Herbert Ernst Groh) (Odeon O-11790, Berlin, January 1933)
Singing Anni Frind, Erwin Hartung , mixed choir and dance orchestra, conductor Hans Schindler
  • Potpourri from the operetta: Ball im Savoy, Part One ( Telefunken E 1309, Berlin, January 1933)
  • Potpourri from the operetta: Ball im Savoy, Part Two (Telefunken E 1309, Berlin, January 1933)

literature

  • Piper's Enzyklopädie des Musiktheater , Volume 1, Ed. Carl Dahlhaus and Research Institute for Music Theater of the University of Bayreuth under the direction of Sieghart Döhring, ISBN 3-492-02411-4 , pp. 6/7.

Web links