''The Count of Luxembourg'' is an

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by

Basil Hood Basil Willett Charles Hood (5 April 1864 – 7 August 1917) was a British dramatist and lyricist, perhaps best known for writing the libretti of half a dozen Savoy Operas and for his English adaptations of operettas, including ''The Merry Wi ...

and

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

, music by

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is ''The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

, based on Lehár's three-act German operetta ''

Der Graf von Luxemburg ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'' (''The Count of Luxembourg'') is an operetta in three acts by Franz Lehár to a German libretto by Alfred Maria Willner, Alfred Willner, Robert Bodanzky, and Leo Stein (writer), Leo Stein. A Viennese take on Bohemianism, ...

'' which had premiered in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1909. Lehár made amendments to his Viennese score to accommodate the two-act adaptation. He also interpolated into the score three new pieces: a waltz that he had written for a commemorative performance of ''Der Graf'' in Vienna; a song from his first operetta, ''Wiener Frauen''; and a Russian dance from the opera ''Tatjana''. Lamb, Andrew. "Lehar's ''Count of Luxembourg''", ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'', Vol. 124, No. 1679 (January 1983) pp. 23–25 The original production opened at

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

in London in 1911 and ran for 345 performances, starring

Lily Elsie Elsie Cotton (''née'' Hodder, 8 April 1886 – 16 December 1962), known professionally as Lily Elsie, was an English actress and singer during the Edwardian era. She was best known for her starring role in the London premiere of Franz Lehár's ...

Huntley Wright Huntley Wright (7 August 1868 – 10 July 1941) was an English stage and film actor, comedian, dancer and singer, best known for creating roles in many important Edwardian musical comedies. His career spanned more than half a century, beginnin ...

W. H. Berry William Henry Berry (23 March 1870 – 2 May 1951), always billed as W. H. Berry, was an English comic actor. After learning his craft in pierrot and concert entertainments, he was spotted by the actor-manager George Grossmith Jr., and appeared ...

and

Bertram Wallis Bertram Wallis (22 February 1874 – 11 April 1952) was an English actor and singer known for his performances in plays, musical comedies and operettas in the early 20th century, first as leading men and then in character roles. He also later a ...

. It was followed by a UK tour and also had a good run at the

New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built from ...

in New York in 1912 with the libretto further adapted by Glen MacDonaugh. It played in Australia in 1913. Adaptations included a 1967 BBC television production and an American silent film version made in 1926. A new English language adaptation of ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'', more closely following the original score and libretto, was produced under the name ''The Count of Luxembourg'' and recorded by New Sadler's Wells Opera in 1983 and toured by the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

in 1997.

Synopsis

The Grand Duke Rutzinov may not marry Angèle, an opera singer with whom he is infatuated, unless she bears a title. He therefore arranges for the penniless bohemian spendthrift Count René to marry a lady whose face he is not to see, and to agree to a divorce in three months. For this the Count receives the sum of £20,000 (half a million francs). As she will then bear a title, Rutzinov can then marry her. At the wedding ceremony, at the studio of Rutzinov's artist friend Brissard, the Count and his mystery bride are separated by a canvas – but when they touch hands to exchange the rings, they fall in love. Months later, Angèle gives a party, which the Count attends. They are immediately attracted to each other, but not knowing that they are already husband and wife, they believe their romance is hopeless. To prevent things from going further, Rutzinov announces his engagement to Angèle. But Brissard notes that the Count has not yet divorced and reveals that the two are still married. Secretly delighted, Angèle denounces the Count's act in marrying for money. The Count storms off angrily. Meanwhile, Rutzinov decides to marry a Russian countess instead, and the Count comes into some money, which he uses to pay Rutzinov back the £20,000. But he is miserable without Angèle and eventually tells her that he loves her. All ends happily. Hood wrote about rewriting the libretto of the operetta for British audiences: :"...there are not, I think, thirty lines of dialogue in the English adaptation which are actually translated from the German; the action of the play has been constructed in two acts, instead of the original three; while the entire part of Brissard, played by Mr.

, has been invented and introduced, and, as a consequence, new situations and scenes have arisen which do not exist in the original play. Three of four minor characters also have been created to help the construction of the new effects, such as the opening of Act I, and the dialogue scene towards the end of Act II, where Angele and the Count each discovers the identity of the other, through the jealous interference of Monsieur de Tresac. This particular episode was in the original treated musically, with a full stage, being the subject of the Finale of Act II; and in doing away with the third act it became necessary, of course, to sacrifice this Finale and to approach and develop the dramatic moments of the recognition by different methods, in spoken dialogue...."''

Roles and original London cast

*Count René of Luxembourg –

*Registrar – Fred Kaye *Jean Baptiste (a Waiter) –

Willie Warde Willie Warde (1857 – 18 August 1943) was an English actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. The son of a dancer, his first theatre work was with a dance company. He was engaged to arrange dances for London productions and was later cast as a ...

*Mons. De Trésac –

Alec Fraser Alec Fraser ( Fraser-Smith; 16 February 1884 – 20 June 1956) was a British actor. Alec Fraser was born Alec Fraser-Smith in Cupar, Scotland. He died on 20 June 1956, aged 72, in London. His sister was actress/singer Agnes Fraser.Stone, Da ...

*Mons. De Valmont – Paul Plunket *Pelegrin, Mentschikoff and Paulovitch (the Grand Duke's attendants) – Frank Perfitt, Ridgwell Cullum, Charles Coleman *Lavigne, Boulanger (Artists) – Gervais Whitehead, Garnet Wilson *Brissard (an Artist) –

*The Grand Duke Rutzinov –

*Juliette (a Model) –

May de Sousa May Alvos de Sousa (November 6, 1884 – August 8, 1948) was an American singer and a Broadway theatre, Broadway actress. Biography De Sousa was the daughter of a Chicago police detective,1900 U. S. Federal Census, accessed on ancestry.com on ...

*Countess Kokozeff – Gladys Homfrey *Mimi – May Marton *Lisette (Maid to Angèle) – Kitty Hanson *Angèle Didier –

Musical numbers

;Act I – Brissard's Studio, Paris *No. 1 – "Carnival! Make the most of Carnival!" – Chorus *No. 2 – "Bohemia" – Brissard and Chorus *No. 3 – "Pierrot and Pierrette" – Juliette and Chorus *No. 4 – "Carnival! Make the most of Carnival!" – Chorus and René *No. 4a – First Exit – "So lend it, spend it, end it, and out of the window send it" *No. 4b – Second Exit – "So lend it, spend it, end it..." *No. 5 – "A Carnival for life" – Juliette and Brissard *No. 6 – "I am in love" – Grand Duke and Attendants *No. 7 – "Love, goodbye" – Angèle *No. 8 – "Cousins of the Czar" – Angèle and Grand Duke *No. 9 – "Twenty thousand pounds" – René, Grand Duke and Attendants *No. 10 – Finale – "Fair Countess, may I wish that now you'll be happy for ever?" ;Act II – Reception Hall at the Grand Duke Rutzinov's, Paris *No. 11 – Opening Scene and Dance *No. 12 – "Hail, Angèle" – Chorus and Angèle *No. 12a – Fanfare *No. 12b – Stage Music *No. 13 – "Pretty butterfly" – Grand Duke *No. 14 – "Her glove" – René *No. 15 – "In society" – Juliette and Brissard *No. 16 – "Love breaks every bond" – Angèle and René *No. 17 – Russian Dance – "Kukuska" *No. 18 – "Rootsie-pootsie"– Grand Duke and Girls *No. 19 – "Are you going to dance?" – Angèle and René *No. 20 – "Boys" – Juliette, Mimi, Grand Duke, Brissard and Girls *No. 21 – Finale – Angèle and René – "Say not love is a dream"

Productions and adaptations

''The Count of Luxembourg'' opened at

in London on 20 May 1911 and ran for a successful 345 performances, starring

and

. The opening night was conducted by Lehár and attended by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and Queen Mary. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' particularly praised the singing and dancing of Elsie and Wallis, as well as Lehár's music, though the paper judged the story to be thin and improbable. It was followed by a UK tour starring

Eric Thorne Frederick Thomas Thorne (1862 – 26 November 1922), stage name Eric Thorne, was an English singer and actor in musical theatre and comic opera. His professional career began in 1884 with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company where he worked for ...

Robert Michaelis Robert Armand René Michaelis (22 December 1878 – 29 August 1965) was a French-born actor and singer who worked in musical theatre, mainly in England, but he also made appearances on Broadway. By 1901, Michaelis and his parents had settled in ...

Lauri de Frece Lauri de Frece (3 March 1880 – 25 August 1921) was an English actor and singer who appeared in musical theatre and in films of the silent era. His original name was Maurice de Frece. He was the younger brother of Walter de Frece and the husban ...

and

Daisy Burrell Daisy Burrell (born Daisy Isobel Eaglesfield Ratton; 16 June 1892 – 10 June 1982) was a British stage actress and Edwardian musical comedy performer who also appeared as a leading lady in silent films and in pantomime. In 1951 she appeared i ...

, and it also had a good run at the

in New York in 1912 with the libretto further adapted by Glen MacDonaugh.Blumenfeld, p. 136 It played in Australia in 1913. There was a Broadway revival in 1930. In 1967, the BBC broadcast their own television production, conducted by David Lloyd-Jones. An American silent film adaptation was made in 1926. A new English language stage version of ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'', more closely following the original score and libretto, was produced under the name ''The Count of Luxembourg'' and recorded by New Sadler's Wells Opera in 1983. This version was revived on tour by the

in 1997.Canning, Hugh. "Flat ''Widow'', fizzy ''Count'', ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'', 2 November 1997

Notes

References

*Blumenfeld, Robert. ''Blumenfeld's Dictionary of musical theater'', Hal Leonard Corporation, 2010 * Gänzl, Kurt. ''The Encyclopedia of The Musical Theatre'', Blackwell, 1994, vol. I, pp. 567–69 * Traubner, Richard. ''Operetta: a theatrical history'', 2nd edition, Routledge, 2003,

External links

Numerous photos from the original productionVocal score, 1911Information about the Broadway productionInformation about the 1926 silent film version
{{DEFAULTSORT:Count of Luxembourg, The 1911 operas Operas by Franz Lehár Paris in fiction Operas