Graz Opera

“Marinka”: A musical by the king of operetta

Anna Brull and Peter Bording bring a lot of humor to the concert performance(Bild: Roland Renner)

Operetta king Emmerich Kálmán on the wrong track: The Graz Opera staged a concert version of his romantic musical "Marinka", written in New York in 1945, for the first time in Austria.

Everyone knows his "Countess Mariza", and of course "Die Csardasfürstin", but the fact that Emmerich Kálmán also wrote American light music after his forced emigration to the USA is not widely known. And this despite the fact that "Marinka" ran very successfully on Broadway in 1945 - for 165 performances.

However, the romantic musical about the not-so-tragic love between Crown Prince Rudolf and his Mary Vetsera, whom he affectionately calls "Marinka" and with whom he secretly flees to the USA while he is mourned in Vienna, fell into oblivion. In the post-war period, the material was perhaps too absurdly romantic. And while the exiles in New York were able to mourn a good old time that never existed, people in this country preferred to look ahead and try to suppress the past.

Matthias Koziorowski as Rudolf and Ruth Brauer-Kvam as Marinka(Bild: Roland Renner)

Musically, two worlds collide in "Marinka": the operetta bliss of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and the jazz-influenced musical melodies from the USA. The Danube becomes the "Old Man River" while Rudolf and Mary sway to the waltz beat.

Musical hybrid
The encounter with this hybrid was nevertheless enjoyable. Artistic Director Ulrich Lenz and Katharina Rückl have dramaturgically shaped the evening, conductor Koen Schoots celebrates both the operetta-like and musical passages with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra. He sweeps through the evening with great verve, giving the four soloists a solid backbone.

There is Ruth Brauer-Kvam, who not only exudes charm as Mary, but also plenty of wit. At her side is Matthias Koziorowski as the philanderer Rudolf. Both are particularly appealing in the more musical-like passages.

Kálmán's "Marinka" in concert at the Graz Opera House(Bild: Roland Renner)

Peter Bording leads the evening with great aplomb as the descendant of the coachman Bratfisch. And Anna Brull is once again in action as the stunningly comic noble cast for Countess Landowska. The chorus under Johannes Köhler is also pleasing.

The strange period coloring of some of the numbers is met with the necessary irony. Fortunately, the times when women were treated like drums and regularly beaten are truly over.

This entertaining, amusing and often surprising evening can be experienced once again on April 6.