Art
The Csárdásfürstin at the Zurich Opera: a modern approach to an old operetta
The Csárdásfürstin (The Gypsy Princess) is one of the most famous operettas, originally in three acts, of the Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953). He was the king of the operettas; his art was based on the Hungarian folk music and the Viennese style.
The Zurich Opera house planned the premiere in the Spring time but the pandemic washed it away. So, the new premiere was on September 25th for the 2020/2021 season.
Die Csárdásfürstin – operetta by Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953) Photography Toni Suter and Tanja Dorendorf
Vivamost was at the Sunday performance last week. The operetta was in German, with English and German subtitles and the show lasted 1.5 hour with no intermission. The stars were Soprano Anette Dasch (Sylva Varescu), Pavol Brezlik (Edwin), Spencer Lang (Boni), Rebecca Olvera (Feri) and Martin Zysset (Kiss and Fürst).
The operetta is produced by Philipp Gloger. Gloger is originally from Germany and made his debut with the production Cosi Fan Tutte in 2016/17 at the Royal Opera. The Csárdásfürstin is his first operetta in which he brings modernity in this old story. Today´s production takes place on a luxury yacht.
The original premiere of the Csárdásfürstin took place at the beginning of the 20th century in 1915 in Vienna at the Johann Strauss Theater. It had to be postponed due to the beginning of the First World War but when it finally happened, the satire on upper classes had a huge success.
Die Csárdásfürstin – operetta by Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953) – Photography Toni Suter and Tanja Dorendorf
On Sunday the auditorium was fully booked. Although the Zurich Philharmonic orchestra under the direction of Lorenzo Viotti, wasn’t there, the musicians played live in the rehearsal room. The sound technique was absolutely amazing and fascinating.
Each time I closed my eyes, the music took me back to my grandparent’s house where I used to listen to these records as a child in Budapest. The melodies enchanted me as always.
When I opened my eyes again, I dropped into the not too distant future where the dust covered the world and the animals are suffering and extinct and the world comes slowly to an end. But the one and only thing that everyone hold on to, and the one and only that is worth to live for is LOVE.
Die Csárdásfürstin – operetta by Emmerich Kálmán (1882-1953) – Photography Toni Suter and Tanja Dorendorf
We loved the costumes of Karin Jud such as the tropical costumes of the dancers. The costumes were modern and relaxed and the ones of the animals were extremely realistic.
The spectators lived with the performance and at the end the actors got a storm of applause for many minutes. We warmly recommend it to everyone fan of operettas.
