Mörbisch Lake Festival

Mörbisch floating stage on Lake Neusiedl

Stage design by Land of Smiles, Franz Lehar (2019)

The Mörbisch Lake Festival , originally: Mörbisch Lake Festival , are a place held annually in the summer months operettas - Festival in Mörbisch am See ( Austria ). With around 150,000 visitors, the Mörbisch Seefestspiele are the world's largest operetta festival. In addition to operettas, classical musicals are also performed at irregular intervals . Above all, the natural backdrop of Lake Neusiedl is always incorporated into the stage design. Since the natural conditions would not allow performances, a transmission technology specially developed for the Seefestspiele is used.

history

Stage design for One Night in Venice (2015)

360 ° x180 ° panorama picture of the Mörbisch Lake Festival 2004

Performance of Giuditta (2003)

Performance of Wiener Blut (2007)

Economic-tourism basics

In the creation and development of the Mörbisch Sea Games, considerations of tourism policy dominated. When, starting in 1953, the aim was to expand Burgenland's tourism and to transform the visiting and transit area into a place to stay and relax, Lake Neusiedl and the lake communities were the focus of these efforts. In the municipality of Mörbisch am See, with strong support from the tourism department, the road between Rust and Mörbisch was expanded, a 1,800 m long lake dam, which opened up Lake Neusiedl to visitors to Mörbisch, was built and a lido was created. Alongside Rust, Neusiedl am See and Podersdorf am See, Mörbisch became the fourth major tourist community on the lake. In 1956, the Mörbischer invited to a two-day sea ​​festival . Together with the Austrian Tourist Office , the community organized a so-called night and sea festival , which was attended by 6,000 guests. The program offered night trips in decorated motor boats, dance bands provided the music, Viennese artists played a full cabaret program, and folk song and folk dance groups performed.

In 1957, the Burgenland press announced the first high point in the development of Mörbisch into a Burgenland tourist center with the construction of a lake hotel and the holding of lake games, and the associated start of a new phase of economic and cultural growth in Burgenland.

Foundation, technical equipment

The initiative to that in the years 1955 - 57 , founded Seespiele went out from (among others) at the Vienna State Opera celebrated opera singer Herbert Alsen (1906-1978) from which, along with his wife, and just recently was in Berlin costume designer Gisela Bossert ( † 2012), who discovered the venue by chance in search of a vacation spot that was climate-friendly to his voice and which was permanently touched by the peculiar musicality of this landscape . Alsen's plans were enthusiastically received by the local council of Mörbisch and the representative of the state, Landesrat Hans Bögl (1899–1974), especially since the project fit into the tourism concept of the municipality and the state, and Alsen subsequently agreed to be the director of the lake games initially for five years to take over (with reference to any competition with the Bregenz Festival ), emphasizing that the Seespiele in Mörbisch did not want to be a festival that would increase the large number of festival venues.

After two years of preparation, the opening took place on July 6, 1957 with the operetta Der Zigeunerbaron by Johann Strauss .

The floating stage was built in a bay next to the Mörbischer bathing beach on hundreds of pilots according to the plans of architect Ferry Windberger (1915–2008), the designer of the first Bregenz floating floating platform. Their dimensions were 42 by 20 m; the auditorium created by the filling of the lake had 1,500 seats. After an expansion in 1959, 3000 people could be accommodated. Today the auditorium has over 6000 seats. In the following years, due to the great public response, there was constant expansion, both in terms of the number of performances and the size of the auditorium and stage. From the initial six performances with around 7,000 spectators (1957), there was an increase to over 30 performances in July and August.

In 2006 a new sound system, which was developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology and is also in use at the Bregenz Festival , was put into operation. This enables directional listening despite the size of the stage.

For several years, the premiere of the Seefestspiele was broadcast by ORF . With the 2013 season this practice was ended.

In 2018, specially staged performances for children were also shown for the first time. A one-hour adaptation by Countess Mariza was shown in June 2018 on a stage set up on the festival grounds in a total of six performances. There was room for up to 250 children per performance, and visitors were also given the opportunity to sing and dance along. The aim was to bring the operetta closer to children. The same soloists were to be seen on stage as in the regular performances. As part of the Austrian Music Theater Prize 2020 , the Seefestspiele were awarded the prize for the best youth and children's music theater production for Land of Smiles for Children .

Head of the Mörbisch Seefestspiele since it was founded

• 1957–1978: Herbert Alsen ( General Manager), Franziska Schurli (* December 1919 - † January 21, 1984 ) (Managing Director)
• 1979–1980: Fred Liewehr (Intendant), Franziska Schurli (Managing Director)
• 1981–1983: Franziska Schurli (Intendant and Managing Director)
• 1984–1989: Teletheater GmbH (artistic director), Heinrich Meyer (managing director)
• 1990–1992: Rudolf Buczolich (Intendant), Josef Wiedenhofer (Managing Director)
• 1993–2012: Harald Serafin (Intendant), Dietmar Posteiner (Managing Director)
• 2013–2017: Dagmar Schellenberger (General Manager), Dietmar Posteiner (Managing Director)
• since 2018: Peter Edelmann (Artistic Director), Dietmar Posteiner (Managing Director)

From 1995 to 2008 Rudolf Bibl was musical director, who was made an honorary member of the festival in 2013.

Performances, artists

Performances

With a total of twelve seasons, Der Zigeunerbaron is by far the most frequently performed operetta in Mörbisch.

year	operetta	composer	Director
1957 and 1958	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Fritz Diestel and Erwin Euller
1958	One night in Venice	Johann Strauss	Fritz Diestel and Heinz Lambrecht
1959 and 1960	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Ernst Pichler
1959	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	Alfred Walter
1960	Victoria and her hussar	Paul Abraham	Kurt Pscherer
1961	The Gypsy Princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Kurt Pscherer
1962	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Karl Heinz Krahl
1963	Gasparone	Carl Millöcker	Otto Ambros
1964	The Merry Widow	Franz Lehár	Otto Fritz
1965	The flower of Hawaii	Paul Abraham	Otto Fritz
1966	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	András Mikó
1967	Venus in silk	Robert proud	Karl Heinz Haberland
1968	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	András Mikó
1969	The beggar student	Carl Millöcker	Hermann Wedekind
1970	The Hungarian wedding	Nico Dostal	Kurt Pscherer
1971	The Gypsy Princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Kurt Pscherer
1972	One night in Venice	Johann Strauss	Otto Fritz
1973	Victoria and her hussar	Paul Abraham	Rolf Kutschera
1974	The bird dealer	Carl Zeller	Karl Dönch
1975	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	András Mikó
1976	The land of smiles	Franz Lehár	Karl Dönch
1977	Mask in blue	Fred Raymond	Robert Herzl
1978	The circus princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Robert Herzl
1979	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	Kurt Pscherer
1980	The bat	Johann Strauss	Kurt Pscherer
1981	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Glado by May
1982	A waltz dream	Oscar Straus	Robert Herzl
1983	The golden master	Edmund Eysler	Robert Herzl
1984	The circus princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Kurt Huemer
1985	In the white Rößl	Ralph Benatzky	Robert Herzl
1986	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Robert Herzl
1987	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	Robert Herzl
1988	One night in Venice	Johann Strauss	Robert Herzl
1989	The land of smiles	Franz Lehár	Otto Fritz
1990	The Gypsy Princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Sándor Nemeth
1991	Sissi and Romy	Roland Baumgartner	Edwin Zbonek
1992	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Wilfried Steiner
1993	The Merry Widow	Franz Lehár	Michael Maurer
1994	Viennese blood	Johann Strauss	Alexander Waechter
1995	The beggar student	Carl Millöcker	Winfried Bauernfeind
1996	The bat	Johann Strauss	Elmar Ottenthal
1997	Parisian life	Jacques Offenbach	Alain Marcel
1998	The bird dealer	Carl Zeller	Winfried Bauernfeind
1999	One night in Venice	Johann Strauss	Helmuth Lohner
2000	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Heinz Marecek
2001	The land of smiles	Franz Lehár	Winfried Bauernfeind
2002	The Gypsy Princess	Emmerich Kálmán	Helmuth Lohner
2003	Giuditta	Franz Lehár	Gernot Friedel
2004	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	Winfried Bauernfeind
2005	The Merry Widow	Franz Lehár	Helmuth Lohner
2006	The Count of Luxembourg	Franz Lehár	Dietmar Pflegerl
2007	Viennese blood	Johann Strauss	Maximilian Schell
2008	In the white Rößl	Ralph Benatzky	Karl Absenger
2009	My fair lady	Frederick Loewe	Helmuth Lohner
2010	The tsarevich	Franz Lehár	Peter Lund
2011	The gypsy baron	Johann Strauss	Brigitte Fassbaender
2012	The bat	Johann Strauss	Helmuth Lohner
2013	The beggar student	Carl Millöcker	Ralf Nürnberger
2014	Anatevka	Jerry Bock	Karl Absenger
2015	One night in Venice	Johann Strauss	Karl Absenger
2016	Victoria and her hussar	Paul Abraham	Andreas Gergen
2017	The bird dealer	Carl Zeller	Axel Koehler
2018	Countess Mariza	Emmerich Kálmán	Karl Absenger
2019	The land of smiles	Franz Lehár	Leonard Prinsloo
2021 planning	West Side Story	Leonard Bernstein	NN

The 2020 Festival had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria . The production of the West Side Story planned for 2020 is to be postponed to 2021.

Artists who have performed so far (selection)

Marina Alsen , 1964, 1967, 2015 Anja-Nina Bahrmann , 2006 Sari Barabas , 1960, 1961, 1964, 1967 Rosy Barsony , 1967 Verena Barth-Jurca , 2015, 2016 Erwin Belakowitsch , 2013, 2014 Helmut Berger-Tuna , 1998, 2000 Rupert Bergmann , 2013, 2014 Alfred Böhm , 1977, 1982 Henryk Böhm , 2013 Kurt Böhme , 1975 Christian Boesch , 1969 Jochen Brockmann , 1976 Rudolf Carl , 1959, 1964, 1968 Heinz Conrads , 1971 Rudolf Christ , 1967, 1968 Dorothea Chryst , 1974 Ciro de Luca , 2010 Karl Dönch , 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980 Rui dos Santos , 2013, 2016 Felix Dvorak , 1978, 1981 Peter Edelmann , 1996 Gerhard Ernst , 1991, 2004, 2014, 2017 Heinz Ehrenfreund , 1976, 1980 Richard Eybner , 1975 Sieglinde Feldhofer , 2010, 2012, 2017 Rainhard Fendrich , 2008 Günther Frank , 1972, 1973 Harry Friedauer , 1959 Gail Gilmore , 1979, 1981 Walter Goldschmidt , 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 Hugo Gottschlich , 1978, 1979 Kurt Großkurth , 1970, 1971

Ingrid Habermann , 1999, 2013, 2014 Harry Hardt , 1976 Johannes Heesters , 1973 Robert Herzl , 1974 Sylvia Holzmayer , 1977 Kurt Huemer , 1977, 1978, 1979 Mirjana Irosch , 1976, 1980, 1981, 1987, 1993, 1995, 2005 Gundula Janowitz , 1987 Peter Josch , 1979 Elisabeth Kales , 1982, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993 Marko Kathol , 2004, 2006, 2010 Waldemar Kmentt , 1980 Dagmar Koller , 1977, 1982, 1985 Ossy Kolmann , 1974, 1976, 1988 Johannes Martin Kränzle , 1995 Horst Lamnek , 2017, 2018 Peter Lesiak , 2016 Marika Lights , 1998 Fred Liewehr , 1977 Herbert Lippert , 1994, 2012, 2015 Helmut Lohner , 2009, 2012 Guggi Löwinger , 1960, 1970, 1971, 1973 Michael Maertens , 2009 Sigrid Martikke , 1973, 1974, 1975 Iva Mihanovic , 2007 Peter Minich , 1974, 1976, 1978 Corneliu Murgu , 1980 Nera Nicol , 1973 Klaus Ofczarek , 1969 Helga Papouschek , 1965, 1976, 1978 Stephan Paryla , 2003, 2014 Barbara Payha , 1997 Olaf Plassa , 2013, 2014 Linda Plech , 2011, 2013

Herbert Prikopa , 1958, 1988, 1991, 1992 Joesi Prokopetz , 2015 Elena Puszta , 2015, 2017 Else Rambausek , 1959, 1961, 1963 Sebastian Reinthaller , 1998 Elfriede Ramhapp , 1958, 1974 Alexandra Reinprecht , 2010, 2012 Mirko Roschkowski , 2013, 2015 Helge Rosvaenge , 1958 Lotte Rysanek , 1958 Johannes Schauer , 1980 Dagmar Schellenberger , 2004, 2005, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Vera Schoenenberg , 2002 Marianne Schönauer , 1970, 1989, 1990 Ingeborg Schöpf , 2008 Gretl Schörg , 1976 Margit Schramm , 1971 Nikolai Schukoff , 2004 Friedrich-W. Schwardtmann , 2003, 2007, 2010 Paul Schweinester , 2017 Daniel Serafin , 2012 Harald Serafin , 1969, 2012 Martina Serafin , 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 Tiberius Simu , 2010 Franziska Stanner , 2013, 2014 Ulrike Steinsky , 1988, 1989, 1994 Rudolf Strobl , 1978 Ernst-Dieter Suttheimer , 1981, 2015 Helga Thieme , 1980 Maria Tiboldi , 1972 Vico Torriani , 1972 Jeffrey Traganza , 2015, 2016 Natalia Ushakova , 2003 Ljuba Welitsch , 1969, 1970, 1971 Vida Mikneviciute , 2018 Roman Payer , 2018 Grete Zimmer , 1978, 1979

literature

• Maria Awecker, Sabine Schmall, Heinz Hischenhuber (arrangement), Margret Dietrich (ed.): Theater history of Burgenland from 1921 to the present . Theater history of Austria, Volume 8: Burgenland , Issue 2, ZDB -ID 570996-9 . Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-7001-2208-X . - Table of contents (PDF) .
• Eva Deissen (Red.): Mörbisch - a festival makes operetta history. Accompanying materials: CD. Echomedia-Verlag, Vienna 2007, ISBN 978-3-901761-62-1 .

Web links

Commons : Seefestspiele Mörbisch  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Mörbisch Lake Festival

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} New section of Burgenland's economic and cultural rise initiated. After the establishment of a lido, the municipality of Mörbisch built a lake hotel - Outstanding service to tourism in the country - Lake play community with the best future prospects - The performance of "Gypsy Baron", a resounding success - The identification of the lake games in the hands of a great artist, the chamber singer Herbert Alsen . In: Burgenland freedom . XXVII. Volume, No. 32/1957, p. 6.
2. ↑ Awecker et al. : Theater history of Burgenland , p. 259.
3. ↑ Awecker et al .: Theater history of Burgenland , p. 261.
4. ↑ Free Burgenland. Communist weekly paper . No. 27/1957, July 7, 1957. Globus , Vienna 1957, ZDB -ID 1307715-6 , p. 9. - From: Awecker et al. : Theater history of Burgenland , p. 261.
5. ^ Mörbisch am See: New center of tourism. The new Seehotel nearing completion - July 6th: Opening of the Seespiele - willingness to make sacrifices and idealism at work. (...) The lake games . In: Burgenland freedom . XXVII. Volume, No. 26/1957, p. 3, column 1, below.
6. ↑ 25 years of the Mörbisch Sea Games . In: Burgenland freedom . LI. Volume, No. 31/1981, p. 35.
7. ↑ Awecker et al .: Theater history of Burgenland , p. 263.
8. ↑ Henning Köhler (Red.): The world's largest operetta stage sounds with Fraunhofer technology  ( page can no longer be accessed , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: iuk.fraunhofer.de , June 27, 2006, accessed on October 8, 2012.  
9. ↑ Wolfgang Fritz ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on the website of the Bregenz Festival on August 31, 2011 
10. ↑ Andrea Rössner (Red.): High ratings for ORF broadcast from Mörbisch . In: ots.at , August 5, 2001, accessed October 8, 2012.
11. ↑ orf.at: Children's operetta for the first time in Mörbisch . Article from January 20, 2018, accessed on January 20, 2018.
12. ↑ Placido Domingo honored the music theater prize. In: ORF.at . August 6, 2020, accessed August 7, 2020 . 
13. ↑ Burgenland Festival: Four venues - two directors . In: Burgenland freedom . IL. Volume, No. 10/1979, p. 45.
14. ↑ The Burgenland Festival is on a new basis . In: Burgenland freedom . L. year, No. 47/1980, p. 48.
15. ↑ Ernst Scherzer: Life for the operetta: Graz director Robert Herzl died. In: Kleine Zeitung , November 25, 2014. Kleine Zeitung , November 25, 2014, accessed on June 25, 2020 . 
16. ↑ Burgenland's influence on an even broader basis. A new festival era. Festival bodies . In: Burgenland freedom . LIV. Volume, No. 13/1984, p. 2, bottom right.
17. ↑ Raise the curtain for the successor game . In: Burgenland freedom . LXII. Volume, No. 36/1992, p. 4 f.
18. ↑ orf.at: Seefestspiele: Edelmann instead of Pichowetz . Article dated May 31, 2017, accessed May 31, 2017
19. ^ Rudolf Bibl first honorary member of Mörbisch . Article dated July 12, 2013, accessed December 6, 2016.
20. ↑ Awecker et al .: Theater history of Burgenland , p. 267.
21. ↑ Second premiere in Mörbisch: A successful experiment . In: Burgenland freedom . XXVIII. Volume, No. 31/1958, p. 2, above.
22. ↑ Awecker et al. : Theater history of Burgenland , p. 356.
23. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} “Victoria and her hussar” triumphed over the storm and the cold . In: Burgenland freedom . XLIII. Volume, No. 31/1973, p. 21.
24. ↑ Burgenland cultural summer canceled. In: ORF.at . March 24, 2020, accessed March 25, 2020 . 
25. ↑ Awecker et al .: Theater history of Burgenland , p. 266.

Remarks

1. ↑ Also: The auditorium has space for 1,800 visitors . - See: Mörbisch am See: New center of tourism. The new Seehotel nearing completion - July 6th: Opening of the Seespiele - willingness to make sacrifices and idealism at work. (...) Lake games in Mörbisch . In: Burgenland freedom . XXVII. Volume, No. 26/1957, p. 3, column 3 middle.
2. ↑ Of eight intended performances, two were canceled due to bad weather. The performances started at 7 p.m. The admission prices ranged from S  10 (0.73 euros) to S 50 (3.63 euros).

Coordinates: 47 ° 45 ′ 14 "  N , 16 ° 41 ′ 57"  E