My sister and I

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Work data
Title: My sister and I
Shape: Singspiel
Original language: German
Music: Ralph Benatzky
Libretto : Robert Blum and Ralph Benatzky
Literary source: Comedy by Georges Berr and Louis Verneuil
Premiere: March 29, 1930
Place of premiere: Berlin
Playing time: approx. 2 ½ hours
Place and time of the action: Paris and Nancy 1930
people
  • Dolly Fleuriot née Princess Saint Labiche ( soprano )
  • Dr. Roger Fleuriot, librarian ( tenor )
  • Count Lacy de Nagyfaludi ( tenor buffo )
  • Filosel, owner of a shoe shop (singing comedian)
  • Irma, saleswoman ( soubrette )
  • President of the Court (operative part)
  • Bailiff ( baritone )
  • First assessor (speaking role)
  • Second assessor (speaking role)
  • Henriette ( old )
  • Charly, valet (baritone)
  • Customer at Filosel (silent)

My sister and I is a musical comedy in two acts with prelude and epilogue. Ralph Benatzky not only composed the music, but also wrote the libretto with Robert Blum . They used a comedy by Berr and Verneuil as a template . The work had its world premiere on March 29, 1930 at the Komödienhaus in Berlin. The casting of the roles according to certain voices - as indicated in the adjacent info box - is not mandatory; they can also be cast with singing actors.

orchestra

A flute , an oboe , two saxophones , two clarinets , a bassoon , two horns , two trumpets , a trombone , a harp , a celesta , a banjo , percussion and strings . For stage music you need a violin and a piano .

action

The work is set in Paris and Nancy at the time of the premiere, i.e. around 1930.

foreplay

Image: courtroom

The next case is called. The couple Dolly and Dr. Roger Fleuriot appears before the divorce judge. “Because of insurmountable aversion” they want their marriage to be dissolved. This seems strange to the judge, because the two give the impression that they are still in love with each other. He therefore asks them to tell how they met and how their marriage developed. Dr. Fleuriot cannot be asked for long. He immediately follows the advice of the judge.

first act

Image: Library in Saint-Labiche Castle in Paris

Princess Dolly inherited the Saint-Labiche castle. The rich young woman can afford to employ her own librarian. The musicologist Roger Fleuriot was awarded the contract. He actually raves about his employer, but is far too shy to show her his feelings. Because he comes from a humble background, he regards her wealth as a barrier that forbids him to get closer to the lady of the house beyond the business relationship.

Dolly would like to see her librarian woo her. Her delicate attempts to lure him out of reserve do not, however, achieve the goal. She has an admirer, the rich Count Lacy, but she doesn't feel more than friendly feelings for him. She also tells him openly to his face that she is very unhappily in love. In whom, it leaves open.

In the long run, Roger cannot bear to meet a woman every day whom he secretly loves, but to whom he cannot reveal his true feelings. In order to change his mind, he successfully applied for a professorship at the University of Nancy. Today is his last working day at Saint-Labiche Castle. When he says goodbye to his boss, she explains that her sister works in Nancy as a saleswoman in the Filosel shoe store. If he goes to this town anyway, may he bring her sister a ring and a letter. Roger is happy to agree. What he does not know, however, is that Dolly only invented this sister in order to play her afterwards.

Second act

Image: In a shoe store in Nancy

Monsieur Filosel, the owner of the shoe shop of the same name, has problems with his saleswoman Irma. She always has nonsense in her head and dreams of being a star in a revue one day. Again and again he has to bring her back down to earth from her cloud cuckoo home. The businessman is therefore very happy when a pretty young lady calls him and asks him to hire her as a saleswoman. When Irma is once again not at the point, she is fired. But because she is receiving a good severance payment, she doesn't care anymore, but takes everything calmly.

After a short time, Dr. Fleuriot the business. In no time he realizes that the saleswoman must be Dolly's sister, because the resemblance is really amazing. For him it is love at first sight. And the sister doesn't seem that rich either, otherwise she would hardly work in a shoe store. He immediately invites the saleswoman to a glass of wine that evening and hovers on cloud nine when she does not give him a basket. Even Dolly can hardly believe that her plan seems to work so well.

Roger has barely left the shop when a new customer arrives. It's Count Lacy. Someone seems to have told him where fate has led his beloved. That's why he went after her. When he is served by the cocky Irma, he is instantly on fire for her. This girl really seems to suit him a lot better than Dolly. He invites her to leave for Monte Carlo with him, and Irma does not take long. The two of them leave the shop happily.

Roger comes back to pick up "the sister". After a long kiss, the lovers leave the house, hugging each other.

Aftermath

Image: Back in the courtroom

The High Court listened eagerly to Roger Fleuriot's story. It now learns that Roger discovered the "sister" a few weeks after his wedding. After she had revealed the full truth to him, he was again the old inhibited musicologist. Since then the truth has weighed heavily on his soul.

The judge not only rejects Roger's petition for divorce, but also insists on his conscience. He should try again with his wife. Wealth is not a burden, but makes life easier. He noticed very clearly that with him and his wife the love was far from extinct. On this foundation a happy marriage could be built that could last a lifetime.

Hand in hand, Roger and Dolly leave the courtroom.

Musical highlights

  • Dollys "Life revolves around a little love" ( Tango ),
  • Rogers "I invite you, Fraulein" as well as the most famous song from the work, namely
  • Rogers "My girl is only a saleswoman in a shoe store with 80 francs a week ..."

Film adaptations

The first filming took place in 1929 under the direction of Manfred Noa , for which Georges Berr wrote the script.

In 1933 Karl Hartl filmed the piece under the title Your Highness, the Saleswoman with Willi Forst and Liane Haid . At the same time Hartl shot a French version with Henri-Georges Clouzot, entitled Caprice de princesse , in which Marie Bell played the leading role.

Directed by Paul Martin , the comedy was filmed in 1954 with Sonja Ziemann , Adrian Hoven , Herta Staal , Paul Hörbiger and Werner Fuetterer in the leading roles, see My sister and me (1954) . "Entertainment from the cinema of the fifties" is the verdict of the lexicon of international film.

In 1956 the play was filmed for television under the direction of Franz Peter Wirth (black and white), with Anneliese Rothenberger as Dolly, Johannes Heesters as Roger, Kurt Großkurth as Filosel. The musical arrangements come from Friedrich Meier, Erwin Lehn and his Südfunk dance orchestra play.

Another television adaptation of the operetta was made in 1975. It was directed by Fred Kraus for ZDF. Heidi Brühl , Béla Ernyey , Ernst H. Hilbich , Irene Mann and Willy Millowitsch will sing and play the leading roles .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. My sister and I (1929) on IMDb.de. Retrieved on September 21, 2009