Carltheater
Encyclopedia
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt is the 2nd municipal District of Vienna . There are inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau , forms a large island surrounded by the Danube Canal and, to the north, the Danube. It is named after Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor...
at Praterstraße 31 (at that time called Jägerzeile).
It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater
Theater in der Leopoldstadt
The Theater in der Leopoldstadt was an opera house in Vienna, founded in 1781 by Karl von Marinelli, following the Schauspielfreiheit by Joseph II in 1776...
. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had been sold in 1838 to the director, Carl Carl, who continued to run it in parallel to his Theater an der Wien
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
until 1845. Two years later, the building was partially demolished and rebuilt following the plans of architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll
Eduard van der Nüll
Eduard van der Nüll was an Austrian architect, who was one of the great masters in the historicist style of Vienna's Ringstrasse.-Life and work:...
, who would later design the Vienna State Opera
Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...
.
The theatre was opened under the name Carltheater in the same year, 1847. Many Alt-Wiener Volkstheater pieces by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy
Johann Nestroy
Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath...
premiered here; between 1854 and 1860, Nestroy was the director of the theatre. In subsequent years, many well-known Viennese playwrights wrote pieces for the Carltheater and reinforced its reputation as the favoured opera house for Viennese folk-pieces and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s.
After a rapid changeover of directors in the 20th century, the theatre became unprofitable, and was finally closed in 1929.
In 1944, the auditorium of the theatre was almost entirely destroyed in a bomb attack. The artistically valuable facade was, however, still remarkably intact after the war. In 1951 it was demolished, with neighbouring building which had not been damanged in the war. Nowadays, the site is host to the "Galaxy"-building. A few years ago there was a plaque in Praterstraße, marking the former location of the theatre, but this is gone too now.
Works which premiered at the Carltheater
- Die schlimmen Buben in der Schule, burlesque in one act, by Johann Nestroy, on December 10, 1847.
- Freiheit in Krähwinkel, "farce with song" by Johann Nestroy, on July 1, 1848.
- Judith und Holofernes, "travesty with song" by Johann Nestroy, on March 13, 1849.
- Tannhäuser, opera pastiche by Johann Nestroy, 1857
- Das Corps der Reche, operetta by Franz von SuppéFranz von SuppéFranz von Suppé or Francesco Suppé Demelli was an Austrian composer of light operas who was born in what is now Croatia during the time his father was working in this outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
, on March 5, 1864 - Dinorah, oder die Turnerfahrt nach Hütteldorf, opera parody by Franz von Suppé, on May 4, 1865
- Die schöne GalatheeDie schöne GalatheeDie schöne Galathee is an operetta in two acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by the composer and 'Poly Henrion' ....
, operetta by Franz von Suppé on 9 September, 1865 - Leichte KavallerieLeichte KavallerieLeichte Kavallerie is an operetta in three acts by Franz von Suppé, with a libretto by Karl Costa. It was first performed in the Carltheater, Vienna on 21 March 1866....
, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on March 21, 1866 - Die Freigeister, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on October 23, 1866
- Banditenstreiche, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on April 27, 1867
- Die Frau Meisterin, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on January 20, 1868
- Tantalusqualen, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on October 3, 1868
- Isabella, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on November 5, 1869
- Lohengelb, oder Die Jungfrau von Dragant (Tragant), operetta by Franz von Suppé, on November 30, 1870
- Cannebas, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on November 2, 1872
- Fatinitza, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on January 5, 1876
- Prinz MethusalemPrinz MethusalemPrinz Methusalem is an operetta written by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by Karl Treumann, after Victor Wilder and Alfred Delacourt. It was first performed on January 3, 1877 in Vienna at the Carltheater. It achieved a run of eighty performances...
, comic operetta by Johann Strauss IIJohann Strauss IIJohann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
, on January 3, 1877 - Der Teufel auf Erden, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on January 5, 1878
- Boccaccio, opera by Franz von Suppé, on February 1, 1879
- Donna Juanita, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on February 21, 1880
- Die Carbonari, operetta by Carl ZellerCarl ZellerCarl Adam Johann Nepomuk Zeller was an Austrian composer of operettas.Zeller was born in Sankt Peter in der Au, the only child of physician Johann Zeller and Maria Anna Elizabeth. Zeller's father died before his first birthday, after which his mother remarried Ernest Friedinger...
, on November 27, 1880 - Wiener Kinder, comic operetta by Carl Michael Ziehrer, on February 19, 1881
- Der Gascogner, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on March 22, 1881
- Das Herzblättchen, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on February 4, 1882
- Der Vagabund, operetta by Carl Zeller, on October 30, 1886
- Die Jagd nach dem Glück, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on October 27, 1888
- Ein Deutschmeister, operetta by Carl Michael Ziehrer, on November 30, 1888
- Das Modell, operetta by Franz von Suppé, on October 4, 1895
- Das Neue Ghetto by Theodor Herzl, 1898
- Wiener BlutWiener Blut (operetta)Wiener Blut is an operetta named after the "Wiener Blut" waltz, supposedly with music by the composer Johann Strauss the Younger, who did not live to witness the première. Such was the popularity of the original "Wiener Blut" Op...
, operetta by Johann Strauss II, on October 25, 1899 - Die drei Wünsche, operetta by Carl Michael Ziehrer, on March 9, 1901
- Das süße Mädel, operetta by Heinrich ReinhardtHeinrich Reinhardt (composer)Heinrich Reinhardt was an Austrian composer.Reinhardt was born on 13 April 1865 in Pressburg . The son of a jeweller, he went to Vienna to study at the conservatory of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde where he was one of Anton Bruckner's pupils...
, on October 25, 1901 - Der Rastelbinder, operetta by Franz LehárFranz LehárFranz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
, on December 20, 1902 - Der Göttergatte, operetta by Franz Lehár, on January 20, 1904
- Die lustigen Nibelungen, burlesque operetta by Oscar StrausOscar Straus (composer)Oscar Nathan Straus was a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works...
, on November 12, 1904 - Der Schätzmeister, operetta by Carl Michael Ziehrer, on December 10, 1904
- Krieg im Frieden, operetta by Heinrich Reinhardt, on January 24, 1906
- Ein WalzertraumEin WalzertraumEin Walzertraum is an operetta by Oscar Straus with a German libretto by Leopold Jacobson and Felix Dörmann, based on the novella Nur der Prinzgemahl by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book Buch der Abenteuer .The young Jacobson presented Straus with a libretto for Ein Walzertraum at a...
, operetta by Oscar Straus, on March 3, 1907 - Die DollarprinzessinDie DollarprinzessinDie Dollarprinzessin is an operetta by Leo Fall. The German libretto was by Alfred Maria Willner and Fritz Grünbaum.-Performance history:...
, operetta by Leo FallLeo FallLeo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.-Life:Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin...
, on November 2, 1907 - Die geschiedene Frau, operetta by Leo Fall, on December 23, 1908
- Zigeunerliebe, operetta by Franz Lehár, on January 8, 1910
- Alt-Wien, operetta by Joseph Lanner, on December 23, 1911
- Fürst Casimir, operetta by Carl Michael Ziehrer, on September 13, 1913
- Polenblut, operetta by Oskar NedbalOskar NedbalOskar Nedbal was a Czech violist, composer, and conductor of classical music.-Life:Nedbal was born in Tábor, in southern Bohemia. He studied the violin at the Prague Conservatory under Antonín Bennewitz...
, 1913 - Die erste Frau, operetta by Heinrich Reinhardt, on October 22, 1915
- Prinzessin Ti-Ti-Pa, operetta by Robert StolzRobert StolzRobert Elisabeth Stolz was an Austrian songwriter and conductor as well as a composer of operettas and film music.- Biography :...
, 1928
Literature
- Franz Hadamowsky: Das Theater in der Leopoldstadt von 1781 bis 1860, (The Theatre in the Leopoldstadt between 1781 and 1860), Höfel, Vienna 1934
- Nora Kirchschlager: Das Carltheater von 1860 bis 1872 (The Carltheater between 1860 and 1872), volume 1: Die Direktionen Brauer, Lehmann, Treumann und Ascher (The directorships of Brauer, Lehmann, Treumann and Ascher); volume 2: Spielplan (Performance schedule), Ungedr. Dipl.-Arb. Vienna, 2002
- Dieter Klein, Martin Kupf, Robert Schediwy: Stadtbildverluste Wien — Ein Rückblick auf fünf Jahrzehnte (Image loss of the city of Vienna: a retrospection through five centuries). LIT, Vienna 2005, ISBN 987-3825-87754-3
- Birgit Peter: Nestroytheater: Das Singspiel Johann Nestroy am Wiener Carltheater. In: Julia Danielczyk (Hrsg.): Nestroy — weder Lorbeerbaum noch Bettelstab. Österr. Theatermuseum, Wien 2000, ISBN 3-9501379-0-4, pp. 69–80
- Leopold Rosner: 50 Jahre Carl-Theater (50 years of the Carltheater), Schworella & Heick, Vienna 1897