AtDTDA: 18 Back to Victor Herbert and Wolf-Ferrari [512]

Tue Oct 2 13:30:17 CDT 2007

          Welcome To

          Victor Herbert
          An American Musical Life

          America's First Musical Superstar

          Music for the Soul

          Why Victor Herbert? America's first musical superstar and household 
          name wrote music for the soul. His melodies will put a smile on your 
          face and a tap in your toes. And isn't that exactly what we need as 
          we turn this new century? It worked wonderfully for Americans the 
          last time the century turned and it has had a similar effect on 
          audiences of the Victor Herbert Renaissance Project in New York 
          City for the past 11 years.

http://vherbert.com/home.htm

          Victor August Herbert was born in Dublin, Ireland on 1 February 1859, 
          and died in New York, New York, on 26 May 1924, at the age of 65. 
          His parents were Edward Herbert (?-1861) and Fanny Lover. She 
          later married Dr. Carl Schmidt of Langenargen, Germany. Herbert 
          was a grandson of the Irish novelist, playwright and composer Samuel 
          Lover (Feb. 1797 - 6 July 1868). Herbert was trained by Max Seifriz 
          in Germany, at the Stuttgart Conservatory in 1876. In 1886, he 
          married the Viennese opera soprano singer Therese Foerster. 
          They had two children, Ella and Gilbert. He played cello and also 
          was a bandmaster and conductor. He was co-founder of the American 
          Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), serving as 
          vice president for a decade.

http://www.pdmusic.org/herbert.html

A List of Victor Herbert's Operettas:

Algeria	1908	Glen Macdonough	
The Ameer	1899	Frederic Rancken and Kirke La Shelle
Angel Face	1913	Harry Smith	
Babes in Toyland	1903	Glen MacDonough	
Babette	1903	Harry Smith	
Cyrano de Bergerac	1899	Harry Smith	
The Debutante	1914	Robert Smith	
The Dream City	1911	Edgar Smith	
The Dream Girl	1924	Rida Johnson Young	
The Duchess (aka Mlle.Rosita q.v.)	1911	Joseph Herbert and Harry Smith
Eileen	1917	Henry Blossom	
The Enchantress	1911	Harry Smith	
The Fortune Teller	1898	Harry Smith	
The Girl in the Spotlight	1920	Harry Smith; lyrics by Robert Smith
The Gold Bug	1896	Glen MacDonough	
Her Regiment	1917	William LeBaron	
It Happened in Nordland	1905	Glen MacDonough
The Idol's Eye	1897	Harry Smith	
The Lady of the Slipper	1912	Ann Caldwell and Laurence McCarty; 
lyrics by James O'Dea   
Little Nemo	1908	Harry Smith	
The Madcap Duchess	1918	David Stevens and Justin H. McCarty
The Magic Knight	1907	Edgar Smith	
Mlle. Modiste	1905	Harry Blossom	
Mlle. Rosita (aka The Duchess q.v.)	1905	Harry Blossom
Miss Dolly Dollars	1905	Harry Smith	
My Golden Girl	1920	Frederic Arnold Kummer	
Naughty Marietta	1910	Rida Johnson Young	
Old Dutch	1909	George Hobart	
The Only Girl	1914	Henry Smith	
Orange Blossoms	1922	Rida Johnson Young	
Oui, Madame	1920	G.M. Wright and Robert Smith
The Prima Donna	1908	Henry Blossom	
Prince Ananias	1894	Francis Nielson	
Princess Pat	1915	Henry Blossom	
The Red Mill	1906	Henry Blossom	
The Rose of Algeria
(Revised version of Algeria	1909	Glen MacDonough
The Rose Shop	1911	Joseph Herbert	
The Serenade	1897	Harry Smith	
The Singing Girl	1899	Stanislaus Stange; lyrics by Harry B. Smith
Sweethearts	1913	Robert Smith	
The Tattooed Man	1907	Harry B. Smith and A.N.C. Fowler
The Velvet Lady	1919	Henry Blossom	
The Viceroy	1900	Harry B. Smith	
When Sweet Sixteen	1910	George V. Hobart	
The Wizard of the Nile	1895	Harry Smith	
Wonderland	1905	Glen MacDonough

http://geocities.com/edeglaz/shows.html

. . . .in addition to this list of operettas [ie?], this site has song titles 
and other info, like for the production of "Litle Nemo", for example:

Song List	 	 	
Sung By

Act 1	 		 
The Happy Land of Once-Upon-a-Time
The Candy Kid

There's Nothing the Matter with Me	
Dr. Pill, The Dancing Missionary and Morpheus

Blow Upon Your Bugles/ Won't You Be My Playmate
The Little Princess, Little Nemo and Chorus

Read the Papers Ev'ry Day (Newspaper Song)
Dr. Pill, Flip and The Dancing Missionary

(When) Cupid Is the Postman/ Won't You Be My Valentine
The Valentine Fairy and Chorus

Act 2	 		 
(The Hen and the) Weather Vane
The Weather Vane, The Barometer Girl and Flip

Will o' the Wisp
The Candy Kid and Chorus

The Barbecue
Ensemble

If I Could Teach My Teddy Bear to Dance
Little Nemo

The Olympian Games	
Chorus

I Guess I Talk Too Much
Little Nemo

I Wouldn't Take a Case Like That
Dr. Pill

Remember the Old Continentals
An Officer in the Continentals

The Chime of the Liberty Bel
Ensemble

Act 3	 		 
Give Us a Fleet
The Valentine Fairy and Chorus

Happy Slumberland
Little Nemo, The Candy Kid, The Little Princess, The Weather 
Vane and Betty

Is My Face on Straight?
Dr. Pill, Flip and The Dancing Missionary

[. . . .ahem. . . .], I mean, look back at R. Wilshire Vibe's shows again on 
pages 161, 163 elsewhere—pretty close, ya gotta admit.

          Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari is a bit forgotten as a composer, though before 
          World War I his operas were played all over the world; the reason that 
          he is almost forgotten now, might be that he composed in a somewhat 
          archaic style: he was a master of the melody, whereas in the time he 
          composed melody was merely associated with operettas and other 
          light music.

          His style is highly reminiscent of Mozart, and in its most modern 
          moments one is reminded of Wagner, Puccini and Richard 
          Strauss.

          However, he can also be seen as an innovator of the Opera Buffa, 
          which had its most important contributers with Pergolesi, Mozart, 
          Rossini and Donizetti; Wolf-Ferrari enriches this genre with early 
          twentieth-century features.

http://www.karadar.com/Dictionary/wolf-ferrari.html

This site has an out-of-copyright collection of libretti, including 
Wolf-Ferrari's "Secret of Suzanna" [further musical exploration 
of the sorts of musical debauchery unleashed by Bach with 
BWV 211] on pg 489. 

http://tinyurl.com/2k2p2e