The stargazer
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The stargazer |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Franz Lehár |
| Libretto : | Fritz Löhner-Beda and Alfred Maria Willner |
| Premiere: | January 14, 1916 |
| Place of premiere: | Theater in der Josefstadt , Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | Vienna around 1900 |
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The Sterngucker is an operetta in three acts by the composer Franz Lehár and the librettists Fritz Löhner-Beda and Alfred Maria Willner . The first performance took place on January 14, 1916 in the Theater in der Josefstadt in Vienna .
action
The plot begins with the annual ball of a girls' boarding school in Vienna. This ball is traditionally a marriage market for the daughters of high society. Kitty, Lilly, Mizzi and Isolde perform the waltz dragonfly dance . However, Lilly is already engaged to the architect Paul von Rainer. This engagement is on the verge of failure. Paul has now fallen in love with Kitty and would like to part with Lilly. But she is only willing to agree to a separation if Paul finds her a suitable replacement as a candidate for marriage. Franz Höfer, Kitty's brother, soon turns up. Höfer raised his sister alone and is concerned about her. Otherwise he is an astronomer and is known as a stargazer. At the ball, Kitty introduces her brother Lilly, Mizzi and Isolde. He falls in love with Lilly. As a result, some misunderstandings typical of the operetta develop. Among other things, Franz got engaged to three women. In the end, everything becomes clear to the happy ending. Franz, the stargazer, marries Lilly and her ex-fiancé Paul von Rainer gets his kitty.
reception
The operetta Der Sterngucker was a great disappointment for the composer. It was not accepted by the audience and removed from the program after 79 performances. Lehár revised the work in 1916. Numbers were deleted, others were newly composed. Some of the original music numbers were subsequently lost. Some have been preserved as piano scores. Even the original textbook can no longer be found. Alfred Maria Willner also revised the libretto. The above table of contents is based on this version. The second version was then premiered on September 27, 1916 at the Theater an der Wien . This second version of the operetta also had no lasting success. One of the reasons for this was that in the middle of the First World War , the audience longed for distraction through great dance operettas, and Der Sterngucker was n't that. Then came Emmerich Kálmán Gipsy Princess and Leo Fall's The Rose of Stamboul significantly better. The success spoiled Franz Lehar therefore suffered a temporary setback in 1916. Even if he later returned to the road to success with other works, he was denied success with the Stargazer . In 1923 a further revision with the title Dragonfly Dance failed, as did a complete new version in 1926 with the title Gigolette . Only the Italian version performed in Milan on September 27, 1922 under the title La danza delle libellule was better received by the Italian audience and stayed on the repertoire for years. In Germany, however, the operetta was more or less forgotten. Only the song And der Herrgott laughs because it makes him happy survived the original version in Lehar's operetta Beautiful is the world with the new text Dearest believe in me , which Richard Tauber made known.
Music numbers
A CD recording by the Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss under the direction of Johannes Goritzki was released on the CPO label. Contributors were u. a. Lothar Odinius, Claudia Rohrbach, Hanna Dora Sturludottir, Robert Wörle and Markus Köhler. The following numbers can be heard on this CD:
Introduction: Romance: Still resting as if spellbound
Dragonfly dance: the evening descends gently
Duet: Howdy God stay healthy
A summer day by the shining sea (only piano, insert from the original version)
Duet: My lady, I can't tell
Waltz Terzett: You, you, you
Duet: This is how my love should be
Finale I.
Duet: Only you, I want everything for you
Trio: Must everyone be a husband right away
Song: Dear good teddy bear
Quartet: Please just help yourself
Song: Stargazers take care
Song: My heart is like young May
Finale II
Song: Josefine, Josefine
Terzett: Usually the bridegroom is delighted
Quartet: How the butterflies kiss on roses
Reminiscence: Yes, parting
Finale III
literature
- Norbert Linke : Franz Lehár . Rororo-Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2001, pp. 68-69