BLUE
DANUBE WALTZ
Memorial Exhibition on the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Johann Strauss
Jr.
February 9 – April 25, 1999
The display based on the valuable documents of the Theatre History Collection and the Music Collection gave an interesting account of the Hungarian reception of the most famous and successful representative of 19th-century light-music. The ’King of the Waltz’ was the most acknowledged member of the Strauss family who gained high reputation all over the world with his compositions during his worldwide tours. Strauss completed sixteen stage works, of which Die Fledermaus (The Bat), 1874 and Der Zigaunerbaron (The Gypsy Baron), 1885 remain the most popular besides his more than five hundred orchestral compositions, among them the most famous of all waltzes An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube), 1867.
 |
He first appeared in Hungary as a conductor with his orchestra in June 1846
on the stage of the Nemzeti Színház (National Theatre). He composed Pesther
Csárdás (op. 23, 1846) at this time. His several marches were created during
the time of the revolution of 1848 like Fest-Marsch (op. 49) and Revolutions-Marsch
(op. 54), and some satirical pieces also belonged to this period as Studenten-Marsch
(op. 56), Ligourianer-Seufer or Scherz-Polka (op. 57). Richard
Wagner esteemed the works of Johann Strauss, Jr. on a high level calling him
a genius of music. The Hungarian-related The Gypsy Baron was based
on Mór Jókai’s short story entitled ’Szaffi’. The plot was
adapted for the stage by Ignác Schnitzer, a Hungarian journalist living in Vienna
who helped to create the romantic atmosphere for the comic opera-operetta to
Strauss’s music with its mixture of exotic harmony, waltzes and gypsy
songs with choruses. The world premiere took place on October 24, 1885 at the
Theater an der Wien under the guidance of the composer who celebrated his 60th
birthday on the next day. The famous Austrian actor, Alexander Girardi appeared
in Zsupán’s role. Jókai himself also attended the first night with his
wife. Excellent Hungarian actors and actresses often appeared on Viennese stages
in operettas by Johann Strauss e.g. Ilka Pálmay in Fürstin Ninetta
(Princess Ninetta), 1893 and Juliska Kopácsy in Die Göttin der Vernunft
(The Godess of Reason), 1897. This operetta was his last stage work premiere
in his life.
 |
 |
 |
Barinkay |
Zsupán |
Szaffi |
|
Costume designs by Jenő Kéméndy for Johann Strauss’s The
Gypsy Baron |
||
The 50th jubilee of Johann Strauss’s career was celebrated with a gala performance on December 2, 1894 at the Redoute in Budapest. On the next day the eminent composer conducted The Gypsy Baron at the People’s Theatre. Finally, a particular mentioning is due to his ’Schnell-Polka’ entitled Éljen a magyar (Hail to Hungary), op. 332 composed in 1869 presenting a musical mirror to the Hungarian character.
 |
The exhibition was arranged by the Theatre History Collection
and the Music Collection.
Curator: Domokos Dániel Kis
