If the end of the world is already inevitable, then the right music should not be missing. Operetta, of course, it has always been a dance on the volcano, and it was fashionable at all times – although today the lyrics “It’s all in pieces, we have to spoil” from Paul Lincke’s “Frau Luna” (1899 ) possibly very topical after all, as gloomy as the international headlines are at the moment. And where would be a more appropriate backdrop for such cheerful and morbid tones than in Bad Ischl, of all places, the place where Emperor Franz Joseph spent his summer vacation for years and finally, in old age, signed the general mobilization for the First World War?
“Lehár is a synonym for sophisticated entertainment”
Yes, thoughts wander far and wide on the Traun, but nobody really has to be melancholy in Ramesh Nair’s production. The very special “scent” of the Berlin air didn’t fail to have an effect even on the audience in the Salzkammergut, although the audience initially felt a little alienated from Paul Lincke and his brisk gait. No wonder, after all it’s the Lehár Festival, so why is mood theater from the Spree on the program? Director Thomas Enzinger told BR: “For me, Lehár is synonymous with upscale entertainment, that’s how I feel. Of course we also have a play by Lehár in the program every year, but also many others, and ‘Frau Luna’ is also one of them , i.e. revue operetta was always very strongly represented in my directorship.”
In this season, however, Lehár can only be experienced semi-staged, namely his first operetta ever, “Wiener Frauen” (1902), also a work from the turn of the century before last, when Europe was already longing for death and, above all, very “nervous”.
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