When the little violets bloom
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | When the little violets bloom |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Robert proud |
| Libretto : | Bruno Hardt-Warden |
| Premiere: | April 1, 1932 |
| Place of premiere: | The hague |
| Place and time of the action: | Bacharach am Rhein, 1900 and 1930 |
| people | |
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When the little violets bloom is a singspiel in two parts (six pictures) by Robert Stolz that is close to the operetta . The libretto is by Bruno Hardt-Warden . The work was premiered on April 1, 1932 in the Princesse Schouwburg (Princess Theater) in The Hague under the direction of Fritz Hirsch , who also played the role of father.
orchestra
Two flutes, an oboe, two clarinets or saxophones, a bassoon, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, a bass tuba, a harp, a piano or a celesta, large percussion and strings. A guitar and harmonica are needed for stage music.
Sequence of images
Image 1: inn garden , image 2: in front of the guesthouse, image 3: auditorium of the guesthouse, image 4: garden of the guesthouse, image 5: Veilchenwiese am Rhein, image 6: inn garden
action
place and time
The operetta is set in the small town of Bacharach am Rhein , the main plot (second to fifth picture) in 1900, the framework (first and last picture) thirty years later.
First picture
As every year, the landlord Katzensteg is expecting his former college friends Paul Gutbier, Horst Südstedt and Erwin Münster for a happy get-together in his garden restaurant, where they share old memories. Katzensteg's daughter Gustl has mixed feelings about the arrival of the old men, as she has secretly got engaged to her fellow student Fritz Gutbier, although she is aware that his father, the strict Justice Minister Paul Gutbier, strictly rejects this connection. In conversation with her father, Gustl learns that the old Gutbier used to have its Sturm und Drang period, which he now likes to suppress.
Second to fifth picture
Thirty years earlier. The students Paul, Horst and Erwin watch the return of the schoolgirls in front of a boarding school for girls. One of them, Liesel, drops a book on the floor, apparently unnoticed. Paul picks it up and discovers a love letter addressed to him in it. When Liesel gets the book back, it contains a letter from Paul.
Inadvertently Paul is leaked a telegram intended for his aunt Isolde, the head of the boarding school. It announces that Dr. Frank, the new teacher, didn't arrive at the boarding school until that evening. This fact gives Paul the idea to use a fake beard to identify himself as Dr. Frank and gain entry into the school. The prank succeeds. The young women are enthusiastic about his unorthodox teaching method.
After Paul has identified himself to the students, they organize a party in the garden of the boarding school. They are strongly supported by Auguste, who acts as the girl for everything for the headmistress, and her friend Katzensteg. The two want to get married soon, because in the meantime they have saved enough money to fulfill their lifelong dream of buying an inn in Bacharach. In the evening, the new teacher suddenly bursts into the group. When he realizes what kind of game the young people have been playing with his name, he furiously tears the fake beard off Paul's face. Indignantly, he quits his job before he has taken office. His conscience forbids him to teach at a school where morals are so rotten. Towards the end of the festival, three couples find themselves and become engaged, including Paul and Liesel.
Sixth picture
Gustl listened to her father's story with great interest. Now she knows how to get rid of the venerable minister. When the three gentlemen have already had a few glasses of Rhine wine , Gustl irritates the old Gutbier until it takes on her to compete with rackets. It is conditional on the loser having to grant the winner a wish. It is not surprising that the older man has no chance against the well-trained girl. At the end of the fight Gustl wrests the minister's consent to the engagement with her lover.
music
Stolz's melody sometimes tends to be sentimental, but it is very catchy, stage-appropriate and safe for the environment. As one of the first operetta composers, Stolz also incorporated elements of jazz into his score. The musical highlights are:
- In Bacharach am Rheine (Polka) as well as the title melody
- When the little violets bloom
- You, you, you, close your eyes
literature
- Hellmuth Steger, Karl Howe: Operettenführer , Fischer Bücherei, Paperback No. 225, Frankfurt am Main (1958)