The rose of Stambul
| Work data | |
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| Title: | The rose of Stambul |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Leo case |
| Libretto : | Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald |
| Premiere: | December 2, 1916 |
| Place of premiere: | Vienna |
| Place and time of the action: | Constantinople and Switzerland before 1914 |
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The Rose of Stambul is an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall . The libretto was written by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald . The work belongs to the Silver Operetta Era and was premiered on December 2, 1916 in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.
orchestra
Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, three trombones, a harp, percussion and strings
action
The first two acts are set in Constantinople (Turkey) and the third act in a hotel lobby in Switzerland before 1914.
Achmed Bey is an enlightened young Turk and very western-minded. His head is full of plans for how to reform the Turkish social order. However, because his father is a respected minister of state, he does not dare to publish his ideas under his real name. Thanks to his literary talent and good knowledge of the French language, the idea occurred to him to write an exciting novel and to spread his thoughts in it. As an author, he uses the pseudonym "André Léry". The book quickly developed into a bestseller that was particularly popular with Turkish women with a modern attitude.
Kamek Pascha is one of the most respected Turks and is still deeply rooted in the Ottoman family tradition. His daughter Kondja Gül is completely different. With her, André Léry's almost revolutionary ideas fall on fertile ground. An extensive correspondence develops between the two in which they learn to appreciate each other more and more.
Kondja Gül was still a child when she was chosen by her father to one day become Achmed Bey's wife. Now that she is of marriageable age, the wedding is due to take place soon. Kondja is deeply saddened by this; but she knows that there is no point in opposing this tradition. She is also prevented from seeing her future husband before the wedding. Even when they get engaged, the couple are only allowed to talk behind a screen. Achmed knows who his bride is. He is also genuinely in love with her, but does not tell her that he is also “André Léry” at the same time.
The wedding night comes up with a scandal: Kondja Gül confesses to her husband that she only married him because of the family tradition. But she feels nothing for him. Her true love belongs to the French writer André Léry. When Ahmed confesses to being that author herself, she doesn't believe a word of him.
The next day, Kondja Gül set off for Switzerland after hearing from her husband on her wedding night that André Léry was supposed to be there. When she inquires about the writer at the hotel reception, she learns that they are expecting a married couple from Léry. This news almost breaks her heart. As soon as she arrives, she wants to leave again. Suddenly she sees her husband Ahmed walking towards her. Now it falls like scales from her eyes: her husband and the French poet are one and the same person.
Musical highlights
- Duet between Kondja Gül and Achmed Bey: It has to be a waltz
- Waltz song by Achmed Bey: O Rose von Stambul, you alone shall be my Scherezade
- This is happiness after fashion
- Two eyes, they don't get out of my mind
- You breastfeeding sweet women - you women, my serenade applies
- Go tell me Schnucki - Midili Hanum, Fridolin Müller
filming
In 1953 the operetta was filmed under the direction of Karl Anton . Inge Egger, Albert Lieven, Laya Raky, Grethe Weiser and Paul Hörbiger played the leading roles. However, it was not possible to hear the original music by Leo Fall, but an arrangement by Willy Schmidt-Gentner.
Web links
- Marcus Pyka (Franklin College Switzerland): The Ottoman Empire as a reluctant model in Leo Fall's Rose von Stambul (1916) in the Operetta Research Center Amsterdam, accessed on December 8, 2014.