UC Berkeley

This thesis discusses the political, social, and cultural impact of operetta in Vienna after the collapse of the Habsburg Empire. As an alternative to the prevailing literature, which has approached this form of musical theater mostly through broad surveys and detailed studies of a handful of well-known masterpieces, my dissertation presents a montage of loosely connected, previously unconsidered case studies. Each chapter examines one or two highly significant, but radically unfamiliar, moments in the history of operetta during Austria's five successive political eras in the first half of the twentieth century. Exploring operetta's importance for the image of Vienna, these vignettes aim to supply new glimpses not only of a seemingly obsolete art form but also of the urban and cultural life of which it was a part.

My stories evolve around the following works:

Der Millionenonkel (1913), Austria's first feature-length motion picture, a collage of the most successful stage roles of a celebrated operetta comedian, which aimed to advertise the artistic potential of the new and controversial medium of film;

Bruno Granichstaedten's Der Orlow (1925) and Reklame! (1930), two of a series of jazz-inspired, American-themed revue operettas meant to prove that--even after World War I--the genre was still relevant and Vienna remained its foremost innovator;

Ralph Benatzky's Das kleine Café (1934) and Herzen im Schnee (1937), two "intrinsically Austrian" operettas, endorsed by the Austrofascist government and tourism office to promote the geographical and cultural treasures of the "New Austria," both at home and abroad;

Rudolf Weys's version of Franz Lehár's Der Rastelbinder (1902/1944), one of the Third Reich's many operetta revisions, with which the Nazis hoped to replenish Greater Germany's repertory of "Aryan" works;

Die Straussbuben (1946), Vienna's first postwar Singspiel, a trusty Strauss pastiche that became the touchstone for a recovering Austrian national pride, and likewise proved a last--missed--chance to find operetta a new lifeline.

The patchwork adumbrated by these historical scraps points to a larger trend: after the fall of the Habsburg Empire, operetta was considered cultural capital for Vienna and, as such, increasingly became an object of political relevance. While this development inextricably linked operetta to the image of Vienna (and Austria), and at points helped to keep this form of musical theater alive, it was also largely responsible for operetta's hopeless stagnation.