Millöcker’s
Der Bettelstudent was premiered at
Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on 6 December 1882. It had a large cast,
colourful costumes and lavish settings and proved to be a triumph - one of
the most popular Viennese operettas. Its initial run at Theater an der Wien
span two years. It was a big hit in Berlin too and elsewhere in Germany but
was less successful in London. According to Richard Traubner, writing in his
history of operetta, it has been revived since its original productions, but
its popularity appears to be concentrated in Northern and Eastern rather
than Western Europe.
Der Bettelstudent, set in Saxon-occupied Poland, in 1704, has
an improbable plot. The proud and cocky Colonel Ollendorf has been spurned
in love. In fact when he dared to kiss the impoverished Countess
Laura’s shoulder, she hit him with her fan. He seeks revenge and
desires to disgrace her, and her family. Ollendorf forces two students who
have been arrested for their politics to accomplish his plans. One is Symon
- who is really a nobleman - who has to disguise himself as a millionaire
prince to court and win Laura; the other is Jan who is to pose as
Symon’s secretary to woo Laura’s sister Bronislava. Needless to
say they all fall in love and marry and Ollendorf’s dastardly plan is
negated.
This is a Mörbisch Festival production. Mörbisch is a
picturesque town on Lake Neusiedl in Northern Burgenland some 70 km from
Vienna. The Festival has built a considerable reputation over the last
twenty years for its nurturing of classical operetta. Oehms has built its
operetta catalogue from this source including Zeller’s
The Bird
Seller OC 220; Kálmán:
The Gypsy Princess OC 201,
Gräfin Mariza OC 337; Lehár
Land of Smiles OC 221;
Count of Luxembourg OC 570;
Tsarevich OC 770;
Merry
Widow OC 530;
Giuditta OC 310 and Benatzky
The White Horse
Inn OC 715.
The 20-page dual language (German and English) CD booklet could have
been more helpful. Too much space is devoted to the Festival organisation
and the
Bettelstudent artists and not enough about the
operetta’s intricate plot or a clear indication of who is singing
what, when - the track-listing on the tray back sheet is in German only and
is confusing at times.
This operetta sparkles and I would love to see it as a DVD. The
numbers often delight, especially in Act II - but none are particularly
memorable - well not to this reviewer’s ears. Act I has the waltz song
‘Oh, I only kissed her on the shoulder’ (anticipating the
boorish Baron Och’s waltz song in
Der Rosenkavalier first
performed in 1911) sung nonchalantly by Colonel Ollendorf. Symon’s
song in praise of Polish women was a hit and is sung with great pride and
enthusiasm, by Mirko Roschkowski. The three ladies - the two sisters and
their mother - sing strongly and expressively especially Linda Plech as the
mother, Countess Palmatica and Cornelia Zink as Laura. Act II is
effervescent throughout with Jan and Bronislava’s love duet ‘By
this kiss’ so affecting; especially its climactic entreaty “Love
Me! Love Me!” Another love duet between Symon and Laura, this time
more playful, ‘Let us pretend …’ also enchants.
A pleasing performance of Millöcker’s most successful
operetta.
Ian Lace
