Musiktheater Vernetzt: Franz Lehár and the endurance of opposites

In the first audience discussion of the year following the performance of Lisa’s Land of Smiles, the focus will be on exploring ambivalences: operetta expert Kevin Clarke and music theatre historian Daniel Molnár will discuss the contradictions in Franz Lehár’s personality: his collaboration with predominantly Jewish colleagues and his position as Hitler’s favourite and the political dimension of operetta then and now. We will ask how we can deal with this legacy today.

Concept and Moderation: Änne-Marthe Kühn

PARTICIPANTS

Kevin Clarke

The German-Irish operetta researcher Kevin Clarke has headed the Operetta Research Centre Amsterdam since 2006. The aim of almost all of his lectures and writings is to take a new and contemporary look at the operetta genre and openly discuss aspects of politics, sexuality and commerce that have long been ignored.

DAniel MOLNÁR

Daniel Molnár PhD is a theatre person and researcher with a focus on musical theatre and entertainment art. He was a dramaturge at the Budapest Operetta Theatre and had a directing internship at the Komische Oper Berlin; he has also curated four exhibitions on the history of Central European show business. He wrote the first academic study on the creation of the Friedrichstadt-Palast and its cultural significance in post-war Berlin. He is currently working on a new book for Cambridge University Press.

LISAS LAND DES LÄCHELNS

A dating operetta based on Franz Lehár by Abigél Varga (music) and Elisabeth Pape (lyrics)

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