Franz von Suppé, born Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo de Suppé (18 April 181921 May 1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas and other theatre music. He came from the

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of Croatia). A composer and conductor of the Romantic period, he is notable for his four dozen

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

s, including the first operetta to a German libretto. Some of them remain in the repertory, particularly in German-speaking countries, and he composed a substantial quantity of church music, but he is now chiefly known for his overtures, which remain popular in the concert hall and on record. Among the best-known are '' Poet and Peasant'', ''

Light Cavalry Light cavalry comprised lightly armed and body armor, armored cavalry troops mounted on fast horses, as opposed to heavy cavalry, where the mounted riders (and sometimes the warhorses) were heavily armored. The purpose of light cavalry was p ...

'', ''Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna'' and .

Life and career

Suppé's parents named him Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo when he was born on 18 April 1819 in Spalato, now

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. His father – like his father before him – was a civil servant in the service of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. Suppé's mother was Viennese by birth. The facts of Suppé's early years are disputed. Both during his lifetime and after his death various unfounded statements circulated about his background. The first edition of ''

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and th ...

'' (1884) incorrectly states that the Suppés were of Belgian descent, that Suppé was born in 1820 on board ship at Spalato, and that his full name was Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo Cavaliere Suppe Demelli.Roser, Hans-Dieter
"Franz von Suppé – das verdrängte Genie: Zum 200. Geburtstag des Komponisten"
, ''Operetta Research Center'', 2019 Other incorrect information is given in a 1905 biography of Suppé by Otto Keller, husband of one of the composer's granddaughters, based on the unreliable recollections of Suppé's widow. Suppé spent his childhood in Zara, now

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, where he had his first music lessons and began to compose at an early age. As a boy he had encouragement in music from a local bandmaster and the Zara cathedral choirmaster. As a teenager in Zara, Suppé studied

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and harmony. According to some accounts his father wanted him to be a lawyer, and sent him to study in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

,Traubner, p. 104 from where he supposedly visited

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and met

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian Romantic composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera ...

and Verdi and attended performances of their operas. By another account he studied philosophy in Padua and studied law later in Vienna. After Suppé's father died in 1835 the family moved to Vienna, where Suppé studied music under

Ignaz von Seyfried Ignaz Xaver Ritter von Seyfried (15 August 1776 – 27 August 1841) was an Austrian musician, conductor and composer. He was born and died in Vienna. According to a statement in his handwritten memoirs he was a pupil of both Wolfgang Amadeus Moz ...

, a pupil of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

. Suppé played the flute in various orchestras and taught Italian. (His mother tongue was Italian, and although he learned to speak German fluently he did so with what one journalist called "a decided Italian accent".) In 1837 and 1841 he wrote two operas, neither of which was performed but both of which may have been influenced by Donizetti, allegedly a distant relation of the Suppés. From 1840 Suppé worked as a composer and conductor for Franz Pokorny, the director of several theatres in Vienna, Pressburg (now Bratislava), Ödenburg (now

Sopron Sopron (; , ) is a city in Hungary on the Austrian border, near Lake Neusiedl/Lake Fertő. History Ancient times-13th century In the Iron Age a hilltop settlement with a burial ground existed in the neighbourhood of Sopron-Várhely. When ...

) and Baden bei Wien. In ''Operetta: A Theatrical History'' (1983), Richard Traubner writes that 24 November 1860 is considered by many to be "the birthdate of the true Viennese operetta", with the production of Suppé’s (The Boarding School) at the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

. Pokorny’s son, Alois, who ran the theatre, did not have enough money to buy the rights for the first Viennese productions of Offenbach's operas, and he presented instead ''Das Pensionat'', which had, by the standards of the time, an excellent run: it was played for 20 nights in succession, and 34 times in all during the six months it remained in the repertoire. ''Das Pensionat'' was the first operetta composed to an original German text, and the first Viennese operetta to be heard abroad: there were productions in Germany and Hungary,Gänzl, p. 1589 and in November 1861 it was given (in German) at the Stadt Theater, New York. Suppé was heavily influenced by Offenbach; he studied Offenbach's works carefully and wrote many successful operettas using them as a model. The operetta specialist Richard Traubner writes that Suppé's early works frankly imitated Offenbach's. ''Das Pensionat'' not only emulates Offenbach, but refers to him in the first act, when the heroine, the schoolgirl Sophie, and her friends learn about the can-can and proceed to dance it. Suppé's most enduring one-act success, (The Beautiful Galatea), dates from 1865.Traubner, p. 106 It was modelled, Traubner comments, in both title and style, on Offenbach’s which had been a great success in Vienna earlier that year. It has had frequent revivals throughout German-speaking countries, and was played in German and in English translation in both New York and London. A full-length operatic success eluded Suppé for some years, and it was not until after the triumph of Johann Strauss's ''

Die Fledermaus ' (, ''The Bat'', sometimes called ''The Revenge of the Bat'') is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée, which premiered in 1874. Background The original literary source for ' was ...

'' in 1874 that he caught up. His '' Fatinitza'' (1876) was a critical and box office success, not only in Vienna but in London and Paris, though less so in New York, where it coincided with and was somewhat eclipsed by the first production there of '' H.M.S. Pinafore''. Suppé surpassed the success of ''Fatinitza'' in 1879 with ''

Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio ( , ; ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was s ...

'' and had his final lasting success in 1880 with '' Donna Juanita''. Traubner writes, "nothing after ''Donna Juanita'' has endured, though several were very popular in their time":Traubner, p. 110 ''Der Gascogner'' (Theater an der Wien, 22 March 1881) was an outright failure, but ''Die Afrikareise'' (A Trip to Africa, Theater an der Wien, 17 March 1883) ran for a month, and received several productions, including an American revival with Lillian Russell in the lead, which ran for five weeks in 1887. Suppé wrote music for over a hundred productions at the

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

as well as the Carltheater in

Leopoldstadt Leopoldstadt (; ; "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna () in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th district), forms a large island surrou ...

, at the Theater an der Wien. He also worked on some landmark opera productions, such as the 1846 production of Meyerbeer's ''

Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history '' ...

'' with

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria Lind (Madame Goldschmidt) (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in ...

. Suppé was twice married: first to Therese Merville, and after her death in 1865 to Sofie Strasser. He died in Vienna on 21 May 1895, at the age of 76.

Works

Suppé composed about 30 operettas and 180 farces, ballets, and other stage works. Although some of the overtures remain popular the bulk of his operettas have sunk into obscurity. Exceptions include ''

'', '' Die schöne Galathée'' and '' Fatinitza''; Peter Branscombe, writing in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', characterises Suppé's song "" as "Austria's second national song". Suppé retained links with his native Dalmatia, occasionally visiting Split (Spalato), Zadar (Zara), and

Šibenik Šibenik (), historically known as Sebenico (), is a historic town in Croatia, located in central Dalmatia, where the river Krka (Croatia), Krka flows into the Adriatic Sea. Šibenik is one of the oldest Croatia, Croatian self-governing cities ...

. Some of his works are linked with the region, in particular his operetta '' Des Matrosen Heimkehr'', the action of which takes place in

Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis (island), Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, with a high east–west ridge of M ...

. After retiring from conducting, Suppé continued to write stage works, but increasingly shifted his interest to sacred music. He wrote a Requiem for Pokorny in 1855; an oratorio, ''Extremum Judicium''; three masses, among them the ; songs; symphonies; and concert overtures. When the Requiem Mass was published in 1997, a reviewer found that it reveals Suppé's admiration for Mozart's Requiem, "from the choice of tonality (D minor), movement layout, and melodic figuration" to a direct quote in the "Mors stupebit" section of Suppé's work from the "Tuba mirum" from Mozart"s "Lacrimosa". The work was revived for a first performance in modern times by

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

, broadcast on 5 July 1984. After Suppé's death thirty unpublished songs were found in his papers, as well as the nearly completed score of another mass. The musicologist Robert Letellier writes that Suppé was a master of three styles, the Italian (), the French () and the German: "He knew how to blend them irresistibly, assisted in the instrumentation by his rich experience as a theatre orchestra conductor, and with a sure symphonic technique deriving from his classical training." Letellier comments that Suppé's overtures were a major feature of his operatic works: "some attaining immense popularity, and securing him an enduring fame in the concert hall ... '' Poet and Peasant'' and ''

'' are among the most famous overtures ever written". To these, the music critic Andrew Lamb adds as outstanding among Suppé's overtures those to (Morning, Noon, and Night in Vienna, 1844), (Queen of Spades, 1862), (Jolly Students, 1863), and (Bandits' Pranks, 1867).

Recordings

There are many sets of Suppé overtures on disc, but few of his stage works. A complete recording of ''Die schöne Galatée'' conducted by Bruno Weil was issued in 2005, the Lehár Festival in Bad Ischl staged and recorded ''Fatinitza'' in 2006, and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra have recorded Suppé's incidental music for ''Die Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen'' (Around the World in 80 Days) and ''Mozart''. The Requiem was recorded in 1997 with soloists and the Cracow Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Roland Bader. ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' was an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer's Musical Times and Singing Circular'', but in 1844 he sold it to Alfr ...

'' described it as an accomplished piece and singled out the quieter passages "such as the obsessive orchestral motif that backs the Liber scriptus, the lovely oboe solo at the beginning of Recordare, or the high violins irradiating the brief Sanctus". Collections of Suppé overtures have been recorded by conductors including Sir John Barbirolli,

Charles Dutoit Charles Édouard Dutoit is a Swiss conductor. He is the principal guest conductor for the Saint Petersburg Philharmonia. In 2017, he became the 103rd recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal Award. Dutoit held previous positions ...

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian Americans, Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Saint Petersburg, Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevge ...

, Herbert von Karajan, Sir Neville Marriner,

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

, Paul Paray and Sir Georg Solti. The most extensive recorded collection is in six volumes on the Marco Polo label, released between 1994 and 2001 with the Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra and various conductors.Naxos Music Library
Retrieved 19 March 2024.

Surname

Most sources have spelled the name with an

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...

. Recently an alternative spelling with a

grave accent The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and many other Western European languages as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other ...

has sometimes been used, on the grounds that Suppé used it when signing his name (see lead image, above); his name is written with the acute accent on his tombstone and in the baptismal registry it was written without any accent.

Partial list of works

* Virginia (opera, L. Holt), 1837, not performed * Gertrude della valle (opera, G. Brazzanovich), 1841, not performed * Jung lustig, im Alter traurig, oder Die Folgen der Erziehung (comedy with songs, 3 acts, C. Wallis), TJ, 5 March 1841 * Die Hammerschmiedin aus Steyermark, oder Folgen einer Landpartie (local farce with songs, 2 acts, J. Schickh), Theater in der Josefstadt, 14 October 1842 * Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und ein Abend in Wien (local play with songs, 2 acts), Theater in der Josefstadt, 26 February 1844 * Marie, die Tochter des Regiments (vaudeville, 2 acts, F. Blum, after J. H. St Georges and J. F. A. Bayard), Theater in der Josefstadt, 13 June 1844 * Der Krämer und sein Kommis (farce with songs, 2 acts, F. Kaiser), Theater in der Josefstadt, 28 September 1844 * Die Müllerin von Burgos (vaudeville, 2 acts, J. Kupelwieser), Theater in der Josefstadt, 8 March 1845 * Sie ist verheiratet (comedy with songs, 3 acts, Kaiser), Theater an der Wien, 7 November 1845 * Dichter und Bauer (comedy with songs, 3 acts, K. Elmar), Theater an der Wien, 24 August 1846, full score (1900) * Das Mädchen vom Lande (opera, 3 acts, Elmar), Theater an der Wien, 7 August 1847 * Martl, oder Der Portiunculatag in Schnabelhausen (farce with music, parody of Flotow: Martha, 3 acts, A. Berla), Theater an der Wien, 16 December 1848 * Des Teufels Brautfahrt, oder Böser Feind und guter Freund (magic farce with songs, 3 acts, Elmar), Theater an der Wien, 30 January 1849 * Gervinus, der Narr von Untersberg, oder Ein patriotischer Wunsch (farce with songs, 3 acts, Berla), Braunhirschen-Arena nd Theater an der Wien 1 July 1849 * Unterthänig und unabhängig, oder Vor und nach einem Jahre (comedy with songs, 3 acts, Elmar), Theater an der Wien, 13 October 1849 * s'Alraunl (romantic tale with songs, 3 acts, A. von Klesheim), Theater an der Wien, 13 November 1849 * Der Dumme hat's Glück (farce with songs, 3 acts, Berla), Theater an der Wien, 29 June 1850 * Dame Valentine, oder Frauenräuber und Wanderbursche (Singspiel, 3 acts, Elmar), Theater an der Wien, 9 January 1851 * Der Tannenhäuser (dramatic poem with music, H. von Levitschnigg), Theater an der Wien, 27 February 1852 * Wo steckt der Teufel? (farce with songs, 3 acts, ?Grün), Theater an der Wien, 28 June 1854 * Paragraph 3 (opera, 3 acts, M. A. Grandjean), Hofoper, 8 January 1858 * (operetta, 1 acts, C. K.), Theater an der Wien, 24 November 1860, vocal score (n.d.) * Die Kartenschlägerin ( Pique-Dame) (operetta, 1 act), Kaitheater, 26 April 1862 * (operetta, 1 act, W. Friedrich), Kaitheater, 25 October 1862, vocal score (n.d.) * (operetta, 1, J. Braun), Kaitheater, 18 April 1863, vocal score (n.d.) * Das Corps der Rache (operetta, 1 act, J. L. Harisch), Carltheater, 5 March 1864 * (Liederspiel, 1 act, H. Max), Carltheater, 10 September 1864 * Dinorah, oder Die Turnerfahrt nach Hütteldorf (parody opera, of Meyerbeer's '' Dinorah'', 3 acts, F. Hopp), Carltheater, 4 May 1865 * Die schöne Galathée (The Beautiful Galatea) (comic-mythological operetta, l act, Poly Henrion), Berlin, Meysels-Theater, 30 June 1865, vocal score (n.d.) * Leichte Kavallerie or Die Tochter der Puszta (operetta, 2 acts, C. Costa), Carltheater, 21 March 1866 * (operetta, 2, Costa), Carltheater, 23 October 1866 * (operetta, 1 act, B. Boutonnier), Carltheater, 27 April 1867 * (magic operetta, 3, Costa), Carltheater, 20 January 1868, vocal score (Leipzig, n.d.) * Isabella (operetta, J. Weyl), Carltheater, 5 November 1869 * Tantalusqualen (operetta), Carltheater, 3 October 1868 * (parody operetta of Wagner's ''

Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wo ...

'', 3 acts, Costa, Grandjean), Carltheater, 30 November 1870 * Canebas (operetta, 1 act, J. Doppler), Carltheater, 2 November 1872 * Fatinitza (operetta, 3 acts, F. Zell, R. Genée), Carltheater, 5 January 1876, full score (n.d.) * (fantastic operetta, 3 acts, J. Hopp), Carltheater, 5 January 1878, vocal score (London, n.d.) *

(operetta, 3 acts, Zell, Genée), Carltheater, 1 February 1879, full score (Hamburg, n.d.) * Donna Juanita (operetta, 3 acts, Zell, Genée), Carltheater, 21 February 1880, full score (Brussels, n.d.); arr. K. Pauspertl as Die grosse Unbekannte, 1925 * Der Gascogner (operetta, 3 acts, Zell, Genée), Carltheater, 21 or ?22 March 1881, vocal score (Hamburg, n.d.) * Das Herzblättchen (operetta, 3 acts, C. Tetzlaff), Carltheater, 4 February 1882 * (operetta, 3 acts, M. West, Genée, O. F. Berg), Theater an der Wien, 17 March 1883, full score (Hamburg, n.d.) * Des Matrosen Heimkehr (romantic opera, 2 acts, A. Langner), Hamburg, 4 May 1885, vocal score (Hamburg, 1885) * Bellman (comic opera, 3 acts, West, L. Held), Theater an der Wien, 26 or ?24 February 1887 * Joseph Haydn (musical portrait with melodies by

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

, F. von Radler), Theater in der Josefstadt, 30 April 1887 * Die Jagd nach dem Glücke (operetta, 3 acts, Genée, B. Zappert), Carltheater, 27 October 1888, full score (Hamburg, n.d.) * Das Modell (operetta, 3 acts, V. Leon, Held), Carltheater, 4 October 1895, full score (Leipzig, n.d.) ompleted by J. Stern and A. Zamara* Die Pariserin, oder Das heimliche Bild (operetta, 3 acts, Léon, Held), Carltheater, 26 January 1898 rr. of Die Frau Meisterin, 1868

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* Andreas Weigel
On Franz von Suppè’s ancestors and his early years at Zadar.

Round table The Round Table (; ; ; ) is King Arthur's famed table (furniture), table in the Arthurian legend, around which he and his knights congregate. As its name suggests, it has no head, implying that everyone who sits there has equal status, unlike co ...

on Franz von Suppè at the University of Zadar. 15 November 2019. * Georg Predota
A Matter of Discretion. Franz von Suppé, Therese Merville and Sofie Strasser.
When did Suppé actually meet his two wives? * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Suppe, Franz Von 1819 births 1895 deaths 19th-century Austrian classical composers 19th-century Austrian conductors (music) Austrian opera composers Austrian operetta composers Austrian people of Belgian descent Austrian people of Italian descent Austrian Romantic composers Classical composers of church music People from Austria-Hungary People from the Kingdom of Dalmatia Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Austrian male conductors (music) Austrian male opera composers Male operetta composers Musicians from Split, Croatia Musicians from Zadar Composers from Vienna