Walzer aus Wien is a singspiel

Singspiel

A Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera...

 pasticcio

Pasticcio

In music, a pasticcio or pastiche is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, or inauthentic.-Etymology:The term is first attested in the...

 in three acts, libretto by Alfred Maria Willner, Heinz Reichert, and Ernst Marischka

Ernst Marischka

Ernst Marischka was an Austrian screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 93 films between 1913 and 1962. He also directed 29 films between 1915 and 1962...

, music by Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II

Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...

 (father and son), arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...

 and Julius Bittner

Julius Bittner

Julius Bittner was an Austrian composer.-Life:The son of a judge, Bittner also initially pursued a career in law. Until 1920 he was a judge in Wolkersdorf im Weinviertel, in Lower Austria...

, first performed at the Stadttheater in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 on 30 October 1930. An English musical theatre

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 adaptation called The Great Waltz

The Great Waltz

The Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...

played on Broadway in 1934, and another English version played in London in 1970.

French and English versions

The libretto was translated into French by André Mouézy-Eon and Jean Marietti, and first performed, under the title Valses de Vienne at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin

Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin

The Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin is a venerable theatre and opera house at 18, Boulevard Saint-Martin in the 10e arrondissement of Paris.- History :...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 on December 21, 1933. In the USA and Britain it was performed, with further re-arrangements of the music, as The Great Waltz

The Great Waltz

The Great Waltz is a musical conceived by Hassard Short with a book by Moss Hart and lyrics by Desmond Carter, using themes by Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II. It is based on a pasticcio by Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Julius Bittner called Walzer aus Wien, first performed in Vienna in 1930...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 30 October 1930 (Conductor:)
Resi	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Paula Brosig
Johann Strauss Jr	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	Hubert Marischka Hubert Marischka Hubert Marischka , brother of Ernst Marischka, was an Austrian operetta tenor, actor, film director and screenwriter.- Career :...
Countess Olga	soprano	Betty Fischer
Johann Strauss Sr	spoken	Willy Thaller
Frau Kratochwill	soprano	Mizzy Zwerenz
Prince Gogol	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Ludwig Herold
Leopold	tenor	Karl Göttler
Ebeseder	tenor	Fritz Imhoff

Synopsis

The action takes place in Vienna around 1845, and relates the ricalry between the Strausses, father and son, and the love of the young Rési for Strauss Jr., but with the help of a Russian Countess, father and son are reconciled and love triumphs.

Discography

• Valses de Vienne - Mady Mesplé
  Mady Mesplé
  Mady Mesplé is a French opera singer, the leading high coloratura soprano of her generation in France, sometimes heralded as the successor to Mado Robin.-Biography:...
  
  , Bernard Sinclair, Christiane Stutzmann, Pierre Bertin - Choeurs René Duclos, Orchestre de l'Opéra-Comique, Jean Doussard
  Jean Doussard
  Jean Doussard is a French conductor.He was born in Saint-Melaine-sur-Aubance. Doussard began his studies at the Music Conservatory of Angers, and later at the Paris Conservatory, where he was a pupil of Jean Fournet, Paul Van Kempen, and Ferdinand Leitner...
  
   - EMI
  EMI
  The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
  
   (1971)

Sources

• Amadeus Almanac, accessed 11 June 2010
• Gänzl, Kurt (1992), 'Walzer aus Wien' in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  New Grove Dictionary of Opera
  The New Grove Dictionary of Opera is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volumes....
  
  , ed. Stanley Sadie (London) ISBN 0-333-73432-7
• L'opéra, Pierre Brunel & Stéphane Wolff, (Bordas,1980) ISBN 2-040-16367-0