Wiener
Blut, literally ‘Vienna Blood’ is in this context rather
to be translated ‘Vienna Spirit’. It is not an operetta
by Johann Strauss but an operetta built on Strauss’s music,
adapted and arranged by Adolf Müller Jr. with the approval of
the composer. It was not premiered until four months after Johann
Strauss’ death. The work was commissioned by the manager of
the Carl Theatre, Franz Jauner, and the book was by Viktor Léon
and Leo Stein, whose most famous collaboration undoubtedly was
Die lustige Witwe six years later. The title is borrowed
from one of Strauss’s most popular waltzes and the idea was
to recycle melodies from older compositions by him. Müller,
who was house conductor at the Theater an der Wien, made an
excellent job, which not only meant that he selected a number
of fine melodies but actually knitted together themes very skilfully.
I believe Strauss would have been very satisfied with him, had
he lived long enough to hear the finished product. The story
is set at the time of the Congress of Vienna 1814-1815, when
European politicians tried to restore the order after the Napoleonic
Wars. This backdrop has nothing to do with the actual proceedings,
which are of the traditional operetta kind with amorous intrigues
and misunderstandings, which in the last act are sorted out
and everybody lives happily ever after … For Franz Jauner the
outcome was anything but happy. He invested in a lavish production
that was a fiasco, it ran for a mere 30 performances, left Jauner
bankrupt and in February 1900 he shot himself. The story doesn’t
end there, however, since Wiener Blut was reworked and
revived at the Theater an der Wien a few years later, where
it was a success. In 1928 the Vienna Volksoper mounted the work
and it is still in their repertoire.
Walter
Legge included Wiener Blut in his Columbia series of
Vienna operettas in the early-to-mid-1950s. It was conducted
by one of the great exponents of this often elusive music, which
needs a sweet tooth but also rhythmic drive and high spirits,
an equation that many a world famous conductor has failed to
solve. The Philharmonia and – not to be forgotten – the Philharmonia
Chorus assisted him superbly and his handpicked standard line-up
of singers couldn’t be bettered: Schwarzkopf, Loose, Gedda,
Kunz and the lesser-known Karl Dönch. Here this select company
is augmented by the young Erika Köth, warmer of tone than in
some later recordings, and the important Viennese bass Alois
Pernerstorfer in a speaking part. He was a pillar of strength
at the Vienna State Opera for many seasons in a wide variety
of roles, spent a couple of years at the Metropolitan and can
be heard on a number of complete opera recordings. The most
famous of these is perhaps Furtwängler’s live Ring des Nibelungen
from La Scala, where he was Alberich, a role that requires an
expressive actor. As Kagler, a circus manager who is also the
father of the Count’s mistress, Franzi, he lacks big opportunities
to show his capacity, especially since the spoken dialogue is
heavily cut to squeeze the operetta onto two LPs. However his
dark, sonorous voice undoubtedly lends authority to his lines.
Of
the regulars Emmy Loose and Erich Kunz are just as warm as usual,
both at heart and in voice. The sing a rousing duet (tr. 9)
which is an adaptation of the polka Leichtes Blut. Karl
Dönch, without being a world-class singer, lends a lot of Viennese
charm and character to his role as Prime Minister and as the
noblest of Counts and Countesses, Gedda and Schwarzkopf use
all their considerable skill to portrait the aristocrats. Gedda
offers melting tone and exquisite phrasing, Schwarzkopf appears
with her usual myriad nuances and exquisite word-pointing. Her
entrance aria (tr. 14) is the well known waltz Morgenblätter.
Their show-stealing star scene is at the beginning of act 2
(tr. 18-19), a duet which eventually leads over to the real
Wiener Blut, sung with lilting charm by the couple. The
Philharmonia round off with glowing string playing in the postlude.
In the finale of act 2 (tr. 26-28) where everybody is gathered,
Müller has skilfully woven together melodies from both An
der schönen blauen Donau and Wein, Weib und Gesang.
The whole operetta ends with a reprise of the title waltz, where
everybody again joins in. It is a high-spirited performance,
on a par with the others in this series, of which, as far as
I know, only Der Zigeunerbaron now remains to be issued.
Ackermann also recorded Die Fledermaus some years later
in stereo but with a quite different cast.
As
usual with these reissues we are not vouchsafed a libretto but
Keith Anderson’s generous synopsis is a valuable substitute, even
though it doesn’t convey the details of the dialogue, which by
the way can be a problem to understand even for those who are
fluent in German. The Vienna dialect that some of these native
speakers employ, is about as far removed from standard German
as cockney from the Queen’s English. Irreverent as it may sound,
the story isn’t the main reason for appreciating this operetta;
I can be fully content just to close my eyes and enjoy the wonderful
melodies and the artistic execution. Mark Obert-Thorn is a guarantee
of the best possible sound quality derived from the original LP
pressings. Every operetta lover should invest in this issue –
as well as those of Die
lustige Witwe, Das
Land des Lächelns, Eine
Nacht in Venedig and, with Karajan conducting but the
same main singers, Die
Fledermaus.
Göran
Forsling
Karl Dönch
(baritone) – Prince Ypsheim-Gindelbach, Prime Minister; Nicolai
Gedda (tenor) – Balduin Count Zedlau, Count; Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
(soprano) – Gabriele, Countess; Karel Stepanek (speaking role) –
Count Bitowski; Erika Köth (soprano) – Demoiselle Franziska Cagliari,
Franzi; Hannah Norbert (speaking role) – Franzi; Alois Pernerstorfer
(speaking role) – Kagler; Emmy Loose (soprano) – Pepi Pleininger;
Erich Kunz (baritone) – Josef;
