In 1883, three of the masterminds of Viennese operetta collaborated on a new masterpiece; A Trip to Africa – or Die Afrikareise in the original German. They were composer Franz von Suppé and librettists Richard Genée and Moritz West. The final result was one of the best Viennese operettas of all time. The work was performed across the world for 50 years, before the advent of films and lighter musical theatre made it, and many other works belonging to the same tradition, obsolete. The last known performance was in Italy in 1922. Using sources from all over the world, this book pieces together for the first time a complete libretto, in English, German and Italian, with the original stage directions, as well as images of some of the productions. The story is full of humour, romance and suspense, with catchy melodies in a quintessentially Viennese style.

The famous operetta composer Franz von Suppé (1819-1895) was of Italian and Belgian descent, and was born a subject of the Habsburg Empire in Dalmatia. His musical gift was evident from an early age, but he first studied philosophy in Padua and then law in Vienna, before he later enrolled in the Vienna Conservatory under Sechter and Seyfried. He became a conductor in theatres at Pressburg and Baden, then in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien (until 1862), at the Carl Theater (until 1865), and subsequently at the Leopoldstadt Theater. During the same time, he wrote light operas and other types of theatre music. After 1860, he consciously imitated the popular style of the Parisian operetta, and achieved great success with Die schöne Galathee (1865), effectively adapting the spoof of Antiquity that had brought Offenbach such fame (in Orphée aux enfers and La Belle Hélène). Suppé established the Viennese operetta as a genre in its own right, full of charm and gaiety, using a brisker style with vigorous popular rhythms. He wrote some 30 operettas, and 180 stage works in all. Almost all of them were produced in Vienna, with a few other premières in Prague, Berlin and Hamburg. Suppé’s sense of boldly defined melody, impulsive rhythmic verve and brilliant orchestral technique found preeminent expression in his overtures, many of which became celebrated all over the world. Poet and Peasant; Light Cavalry; Pique Dame; Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna; and Boccaccio still retain a place in the light repertory of the concert hall. His most enduringly famous operetta remains Boccaccio (1879), based on episodes from the life of the famous medieval Italian writer. Fatinitza (1876), using a libretto adapted from Eugène Scribe, also became extremely popular. This collection brings together many of the celebrated overtures to operettas and plays that became Suppé’s hallmark as a composer. Also included are some of the shorter orchestral introductions that the composer provided for some of his later stage works (such as Der Teufel auf Erden, Fatinitza, Donna Juanita, Die Afrikareise, Die Jagd nach dem Glück, and Des Matrosen Heimkehr).

In 1854, the originator of Viennese Operetta, Franz von Suppé created the music for a new play by Leonhart Wohlmuth. It is part of a forgotten art form where the music underlines and accompanies the action on stage in a similar way to a soundtrack for a film. While the music works very well in the present day, the real challenge is to modernise the script to make it relevant and interesting for a modern audience. Originally written in early 19th century German, the script sounds outdated and received a less than positive reception at its original outing. Its dialogue is more in keeping with Opera and required significant work to make it palatable to a contemporary audience. The project on which this book is based maintained the music by Suppé as indicated in the manuscript score, while translating and adapting the German script by Wohlmuth into a version more interesting in the present day.