| Das Dreimäderlhaus or Blossom Time or Lilac Time | |
|---|---|
 Fritz Schrödter as Schubert and Anny Rainer as Hannerl, 1916 | |
| Music | Franz Schubert |
| Lyrics | Alfred Maria Willner Heinz Reichert [de] |
| Book | Alfred Maria Willner Heinz Reichert |
| Basis | 1912 novelSchwammerl by Rudolf Hans Bartsch |
| Productions | 1916Vienna 1916Berlin 1921Paris 1921Broadway 1922West End |
Das Dreimäderlhaus (House of the Three Girls), adapted into English-language versions asBlossom Time andLilac Time, is a Viennesepasticheoperetta with music byFranz Schubert, rearranged byHeinrich Berté (1857–1924), and a libretto byAlfred Maria Willner andHeinz Reichert [de]. The work gives a fictionalized account of Schubert's romantic life, and the story was adapted from the 1912 novelSchwammerl byRudolf Hans Bartsch (1873–1952). Originally the score was mostly Berté, with just one piece of Schubert's ("Ungeduld" fromDie schöne Müllerin), but the producers required Berté to discard his score and create apasticcio of Schubert music.[1]
The original production opened at theRaimundtheater inVienna on 15 January 1916 and ran for over 650 performances in its original run in Austria and for hundreds more in Germany, followed by many successful revivals. It starredFritz Schrödter [de] as Schubert and Anny Rainer as Hannerl. Schrödter was already 60 in 1916. In 1886, he had sung the part of the "Prince of Song" (i.e. Schubert) inFranz von Suppé's operetta about Schubert.[2] The operetta spawned a sequel entitledHannerl.[3] Debuting duringWorld War I, the operetta's popularity was fueled by the public's taste for nostalgia, harnessing an old-fashioned, sentimental story and Schubert's familiar music.[4][5] Schubert worked hard to become a successful opera composer but found little success in this genre of music. WithDas Dreimäderlhaus, ironically, his music finally became famous in a stage work.[2]
Das Dreimäderlhaus then premiered in Paris on May 7, 1921, in a French adaptation by Hugues Delorme and Léon Abric calledChanson d'amour (Song of Love). The operetta was a success in France, and soon an English language adaption opened onBroadway asBlossom Time, with a new arrangement of Schubert's music bySigmund Romberg and an adapted libretto byDorothy Donnelly. This debuted at theAmbassador Theatre on September 29, 1921, where it ran for 592 performances; it was revived several times on Broadway over the next two decades. In London, the operetta was calledLilac Time, with an adapted libretto byAdrian Ross and music arranged byGeorge H. Clutsam, using some of Berté's work.Lilac Time opened at theLyric Theatre on December 22, 1922, and ran for 626 performances. Both the Broadway and West End versions toured extensively in subsequent decades and were frequently revived until the 1950s.
The operetta received productions in over 60 countries and was translated into numerous languages. By 1961, the piece was estimated to have played over 85,000 performances worldwide.[1] It still receives occasional productions.[3][6]
In the spring of 1826, Schubert, a poor young composer, has quarters in an old Viennese house together with two friends. The three daughters of Christian Tschöll, the court glass maker, visit the three friends. Two of the girls are in love with Schubert's roommates, and the third, Hannerl, is chaperoning her sisters. More of Schubert's friends come to visit. The father arrives in search of his daughters. Schubert's two roommates drink with Tschöll in their courtyard, underneath a Lilac tree, and he agrees to their engagements with his daughters. Schubert takes on Hannerl as his singing pupil, and although the two fall in love, they are each too shy to reveal their feelings.
A couple of months later, the first two daughters are marrying their fiancés at Tschöll's house, and the three roommates are all guests at the wedding. Actress Giuditta Grisi, the mistress of Baron Franz Schober, one of Schubert's friends, arrives. She is jealous and believes that he must be cheating on her. She assumes that Hannerl is the other woman and warns her to stay away from her man. Schubert, still unable to tell Hannerl that he loves her, instead asks Schober to sing a song that he has written for her ("Ungeduld"). Hannerl misunderstands Grisi's warning, believing it to be about Schubert rather than Schober. She turns away from the composer and falls in love with Schober.
In thePrater the following morning, everyone assembles. Eventually, Schubert ends up alone, disappointed, but consoled by Hannerl's happiness and by his music.
Five years after the Vienna opening, in 1921, theShubert brothers acquired the American rights toDas Dreimäderlhaus with a view to customising the operetta for American audiences. They hired Donnelly and Romberg (their house composer) to adapt the libretto and music. The same team, three years later, adaptedOld Heidelberg to makeThe Student Prince, but in the case ofThe Student Prince, the entire score was written by Romberg, not by another composer. The Broadway production ofBlossom Time opened at the Ambassador Theatre on September 29, 1921, where it ran for 592 performances, starring Bertram Peacock and Olga Cook. It became the second longest-running Broadway musical of the 1920s and, after extensive tours, played Broadway again in 1939 and 1943.[7] The show was staged byJ. C. Huffman.[8]
Donnelly changed the character names and several of the settings. The plot follows the basic story of the original, but many significant details are changed, well-known Schubert pieces are gratuitously inserted and historically inaccurate material familiar to Americans of the era is added. For example, in Act I, Schubert writes "Ständchen" for Count Scharntoff, who plans to give it (as his own work) to his wife, who is in love with Schober. Schubert's friends arrange for Hannerl ("Mitzi" in this version) to have singing lessons with Schubert as the cover for why the other daughters are there, when the father appears. They then get him drunk so that he agrees to the double wedding. In Act III, some of Schubert's works are about to be given in a concert, but Schubert is too ill to attend. His friends return to his lodgings after the concert just before Schubert dies, surrounded by angels, as "Ave Maria" is heard.[9]
|
|
|
In 1922, in England,Das Dreimäderlhaus was adapted asLilac Time byAdrian Ross with music byGeorge H. Clutsam. Clutsam, an Australian composer, moved to London and wrote, among other things, a 1912 biography of Schubert.[10] Later, he turned to the more profitable field of composing scores for musical comedies. Clutsam's adaptation hews more closely to Berté's original than does Romberg's.Lilac Time opened at theLyric Theatre on December 22, 1922, and ran for 626 performances,[11] The production was directed byDion Boucicault; the musical director wasClarence Raybould.[12] The cast at the London premiere was:
The piece was revived atDaly's Theatre (1928),[14] the Lyric (1930),[15] and theGlobe Theatre (1932).[16] In 1933, soon afterRichard Tauber had starred in a new production in German at theAldwych Theatre,[17] a new English production was mounted at theAlhambra Theatre.[18] The piece was revived at theLondon Coliseum in 1936,[19] theStoll Theatre in 1942,[20] andHis Majesty's Theatre in 1949.[21]
|
|
|
The tenor Richard Tauber played Schubert in several productions and tours ofDas Dreimäderlhaus in Europe, first atPlauen, Germany, on 24 January 1920,[22] and then in five performances of the original version at theTheater an der Wien in October 1921 [Neue Freie Presse]. He presented a new version of it in London in 1933, sung in German but with the English titleLilac Time, adapted by himself and Sylvio Mossée.[17] Tauber madea film version in 1934 withJane Baxter,[23] and worked with Clutsam on a new version entitledBlossom Time based on the film. Clutsam included more new material in this version. It debuted on tour in the British provinces, moving to the Lyric Theatre in London on 17 March 1942.[24]
The original London cast recorded at least four double-sided 12" acoustic recordings of highlights for the Vocalian company in 1922. The songs recorded included the following:
The following discs were also recorded at the same time:
Al Goodman conducted an album of 10 selections fromBlossom Time forRCA Victor in the 1940s, which was briefly issued on LP. In 1959June Bronhill andThomas Round recordedLilac Time forHis Master's Voice when they were stars ofSadler's Wells Opera.[25] French Decca made a recording of the French version of the operetta (asChanson d'Amour) in 1962 conducted byJésus Etcheverry; the cast included Aimé Doniat as Schubert,André Mallabrera as Schober,Lina Dachary as Annette andFreda Betti as Nanette.[26]Reader's Digest included a selection in their albumA Treasury of Great Operettas, first offered for sale in 1963. Capriccio released a recording ofDas Dreimäderlhaus in 1997, conducted by Alfred Walter, and[27]Ohio Light Opera released a recording of the opera in 2002.[4] In 2005, UK label Classics for Pleasure, a branch ofEMI, released on CD the 1959 His Master's Voice recording ofLilac Time[25]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
