Offenbach Performance in Budapest, 1920–1956

Download or read book Offenbach Performance in Budapest, 1920–1956 written by Péter Bozó and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-06-23 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a legacy of the Habsburg Empire, performances of Jacques Offenbach's musical stage works played an important role in Budapest musico-theatrical life in the twentieth century. However, between the collapse of the Empire and the 1956 anti-Soviet revolution, political ideologies strongly influenced the character of these productions, when they took place. Public performances of Offenbach's works were prohibited between 1938 and 1945 and they became the bases for propagandadistic adaptations in the 1950s. This element explores how the local operetta tradition and the vogue of operettas featuring composers as characters during the interwar period were also important factors in how Offenbach's stage works were performed in mid-twentieth century Budapest in versions that sometimes bore little resemblance to the originals.