The dancer Fanny Elßler
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The dancer Fanny Elßler |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Johann Strauss (son) |
| Libretto : | Hans Adler |
| Premiere: | December 22, 1934 |
| Place of premiere: | Berlin |
| Place and time of the action: | Eisenstadt , Vienna and Meidling 1831 |
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The dancer Fanny Elßler is a posthumous operetta in three acts with music by Johann Strauss (son) , compiled and arranged for the stage by Bernard Grun and Oskar Stalla . The libretto is by Hans Adler . The work had its world premiere on December 22, 1934 in Berlin .
action
first act
Image: Hall in Esterházy Palace (Eisenstadt)
Prince Esterházy is a great admirer of the dancer Fanny Elßler. In her honor he has a festival held in his castle. The guests also include the influential politician Friedrich von Gentz and his advisor, Baron Franz Fournier, who has been enthusiastic about the dancer since his youth. When he seeks Fanny's proximity, she lets him know that she is not averse to his wooing.
Gentz also flatters Fanny, albeit for completely different reasons. He promises to patronize her so that she can become a prima ballerina at the Vienna Court Opera .
Second act
Image: In front of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna
Gentz kept his promise: Fanny has become the acclaimed star of the court opera. Fournier warns Fanny about his boss. If he is so helpful to a person, then it is not done unselfishly. Shortly afterwards, Fournier was summoned to Gentz to accept an order: he was to see to it that Fanny met the Duke of Reichstadt, son of Napoléon I, who lived in Schönbrunn Palace, in order to dissuade him from his imperial dreams. Fournier can't believe what his master is asking of him, but as a loyal official he carries out the job. Before Fanny and the Duke meet, however, Fanny is informed by a French woman who goes to the ball about what Austrian politics are trying to achieve with her. She feels betrayed by Fournier. After she has been introduced to the Duke, she opens the evening ball with him.
Third act
Image: Fanny Elßler's salon in Meidling
During a visit to the dancer, Gentz learns that Fanny had informed the Duke about the real reasons for their rendezvous. Gentz is dismayed to discover that his plan has not worked out. In the course of the conversation, it becomes clear to Fanny that she was not betrayed by Fournier, but by Gentz. Before he says goodbye to her, she manages to get her lover transferred as attaché not to Saint Petersburg but to Paris; because she soon has the prospect of an engagement at the opera house there.
Origin and Music
Numerous drafts by the composer can still be found in Johann Strauss' estate. The Strauss family had the idea of using this to create the music for another “posthumous” operetta - based on “ Wiener Blut ”. Bernard Grun and Oskar Stalla got the job. With a lot of empathy for the style of the deceased composer, they succeeded in providing Hans Adler's effective libretto with music that makes the operetta sound like an original Johann Strauss.
The musical highlights are the waltz song Outside in Sievering, the lilac is already in bloom , the duet Yes, love is not to be trifled with and the couplet I play my piece .
See also
Court ball in Schönbrunn , an operetta by August Pepöck (music) and Josef Wenter (text), which also deals with the meeting of the dancer with the Duke of Reichstadt, but comes to a different conclusion.
literature
- Anton Würz: Reclams Operettenführer , 23rd edition, ISBN 3-15-010512-9