This performance remembers the 84th anniversary of the Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”) pogroms which occurred on November 9–10, 1938 throughout Austria, Germany, and the Sudetenland. 

The rich tradition of Viennese Operetta reached a glorious apex in the late 1930s with its opulent waltzes, frothy comedic plots, and sentimental charm, becoming the dominant form of entertainment for all classes in Vienna and forging a nationalistic voice of Austrian identity.

With the approaching storm of Berlin’s Third Reich and its strict Nuremberg laws preventing Jews from participating in the theater, Viennese Operetta withered in the months following Hitler’s annexation of Austria, causing an end to one of the most thriving periods in musical theater history.  

Join baritone, narrator, and Boyer College of Music faculty member Daniel Neer as he explores the clash between Viennese Operetta and the Anschluss with stories of Jewish (and non-Jewish) composers, librettists, and performers in the wake of Hitler’s invasion, accompanied by bittersweet music by some of the greatest composers, librettists, and performers of the era. In addition to standard hits by “the waltz king” Johann Strauss, there will also be favorites by Lehár, Kálmán, Benatzky, and some rarely heard songs by cabaret star Hermann Leopoldi and violin virtuoso Fritz Kreisler.  

Joining Daniel will be soprano and Temple alum Marta Zaliznyak, soprano and Temple senior Ariana Grace, and Boyer College of Music faculty member pianist Gabriel Rebolla.  

The Beyond the Notes series is presented in collaboration with Boyer College of Music and Dance. 

Light refreshments served. Boyer recital credit given.