Heinrich Berté (), born Heinrich Bettelheim (8 May 1857 – 23 August 1924) was an Austria-Hungarian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s and

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 ...

Life

Heinrich Berté was born in Galgócz,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(now

Hlohovec Hlohovec (, Hungarian ''Galgóc''), is a town in southwestern Slovakia, with a population of 21,508. Name The name comes from ''*Glogovec'', the Old Slavic name for a place densely overgrown by hawthorn. The Hungarian form ''Galgóc'' was ado ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) in a Jewish family. At the beginning of his career, he was a relatively unsuccessful composer of

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s and an opera. In 1911 he was offered a

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

by the writer Alfred Maria Willner for an

about

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

, based on the novel, '' Schwammerl'' by Rudolf Hans Bartsch, but this was turned down and he was told to use Schubert's music in a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

instead. On 15 January 1916 his first performed work, an arrangement of Franz Schubert's '' Das Dreimäderlhaus'' was premiered in the Raimund Theater in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Gretl Schörg's voice was discovered during the run. The operetta was translated into 22 languages and in 1921 it opened as '' Blossom Time'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, in 1922 as '' Lilac Time ''in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

), and was performed in over 60 countries, it was a worldwide success. The operetta was filmed several times . Berté could not build on this success, his second Schubert operetta was unsuccessful. He died in

Perchtoldsdorf Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking. Geography It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, aged 66.

Works

Opera

*Schneeflocke (

, 1896)

Operettas

*Bureau Malicone (Vienna, 1891) *Der neue Bürgermeister (Vienna, 1904) - libretto by Ernst Gettke *Die Millionenbraut (

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, 1904) *Der Stadtregent (Munich, 1905) *Der kleine Chevalier (

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, 1907) *Der schöne Gardist ( Breslau, 1907) *Der Glücksnarr (Vienna, 1908) *Kreolenblut (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, 1911) *Der Märchenprinz (

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, 1914) * Das Dreimäderlhaus (Vienna, 1916; with music by

) *Lenz und Liebe (

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, 1917; with music by Franz Schubert) *Die drei Kavaliere (Vienna, 1919) *Coulissengeheimnisse (Hamburg, 1920

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berte, Heinrich 1858 births 1924 deaths 19th-century Austrian people 20th-century Austrian people 19th-century Hungarian people 20th-century Hungarian people 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Austrian Romantic composers Austrian opera composers Male opera composers Jewish classical composers Hungarian classical composers Hungarian male classical composers Austrian male classical composers Hungarian Jews People from Hlohovec 20th-century Hungarian male musicians 19th-century male musicians Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Composers from Austria-Hungary