Der Graf Von Luxemburg - Performance History

Performance History

Der Graf von Luxemburg premiered at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, on 12 November 1909. Otto Storm played René, and Angèle was played by Annie von Ligety who was making her stage debut. It also proved to be the only role she would play—shortly thereafter she married a wealthy financier and retired from the stage. A great success, Der Graf initially ran for 299 performances. Lehár made various changes to the work over the ensuing years, and the version now preferred, with the first act divided into two scenes and a solo song added for Countess Kokozow in Act 3, originates from the production in Berlin at the Theater des Volkes on 4 March 1937.

Following its Vienna premiere, Der Graf von Luxemburg was soon performed internationally. It premiered in Germany at Berlin's Neues Operettenhaus on 23 December 1909 and in Hungary a month later as Luxemburg grófja with the libretto translated into Hungarian and adapted by Andor Gábor. When performed outside German-speaking countries the operetta was almost invariably performed in translation, often with the libretto significantly adapted to local theatrical tastes. It was first performed in Italy as Il conte di Lussemburgo at the Teatro Vittorio Emanuele in Turin in 1910, and in France as Le comte de Luxembourg (in a translation by Robert de Flers and Gaston de Caillavet) at the Théâtre Apollo in 1912. The Spanish version premiered at the Teatro Eslava in Madrid as El conde le Luxemburgo in 1910. However, this version was significantly altered from the original. The libretto was adapted and translated by José Juan Cadenas, and the Spanish composer Vicente Lleó not only rearranged Lehár's music but also added some music of his own. A year later, Lleó collaborated with the composer Enrique Bru and two new librettists to create a one-act zarzuela, El conde del embudo, even more loosely based on Lehár's original. Der Graf von Luxemburg arrived in Latin America soon after its premiere thanks to travelling operetta companies from Europe. It received its Uruguayan premiere in 1910 at the Teatro Solis in Montevideo performed in the original German and was subsequently performed there for many years, although after the premiere always in either Italian or Spanish translation. A Portuguese company from Porto performed the work in Portuguese translation as O conde de Luxemburgo at the Teatro Amazonas in Brazil in 1913.

One of the most successful adaptations of the operetta was The Count of Luxembourg, an English version by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross who had previously adapted The Merry Widow for English audiences. The Hood and Ross version premiered in London on 20 May 1911 with Lehár conducting and King George V and Queen Mary in the audience. It was followed by a Broadway production in 1912. Hood and Ross had made significant alterations to the original libretto and reduced the work from three acts to two with Lehár adjusting the score accordingly. However, in 1983, the New Sadler's Wells Opera (which closed in 1989) performed the work in a new translation of the libretto by Nigel Douglas with song texts by Eric Maschwitz and Douglas. This version in three acts was much more faithful to the original and also included music from Lehár's 1937 definitive version.

The KlangBogen Wien Festival commissioned Austrian film and theatre director Michael Schottenberg to rewrite the operetta's book for its performance at the 2005 festival. Although Schottenberg's re-working remains faithful to the basic plot and retains most of the original dialogue, the setting was changed to Vienna in the 1950s. The Graf von Luxemburg is now René Graf, a struggling novelist whose nickname is "The Count". His bohemian friend Manfred (Armand in the original) is a student, while their beloveds, Angelika (Angèle) and Julie (Juliette), are dancers in a sleazy Hawaiian revue. Prince Basilowitsch is now Dr. Basil Basilovich-Kokosov, the Russian consul to Vienna, who is saddled with an estranged nymphomaniac wife, Anastasia. René and Angelika's sham wedding takes place in Manfred's bathroom, with René hiding behind the shower curtain. Larry L. Lash, who reviewed the live performance for Opera News wrote that the production "zipped along with a manic 'Springtime for Hitler' fall-out-of-your-seat humor that had me laughing out loud for days after." Immediately following the festival performances at the Theater an der Wien, Schottenberg's production transferred to the Vienna Volksoper where it remains in repertory.