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145-490: Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania . He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on the violin, and moved to Budapest with his father to study with the renowned pedagogue Jenő Hubay . After completing his studies with Hubay in his early teens, Szigeti began his international concert career. His performances at that time were primarily limited to salon-style recitals and

290-435: A bit he produced heart-rending beauty. Violinist Yehudi Menuhin comments at length about Szigeti in his own memoirs, remarking as many others did on Szigeti's intellectual approach to music, but in a somewhat more critical fashion: Apart from Enesco , he was the most cultivated violinist I have ever known but while Enesco was a force of nature, Szigeti, slender, small, anxious, was a beautifully fashioned piece of porcelain,

435-476: A center for Christian denominations other than Eastern Orthodoxy , the form of Christianity that most Romanians currently follow. As such, there are significant numbers of inhabitants of Transylvania that follow Latin Catholicism and Greek Catholicism , and Protestantism . Even though before 1948, the population of Transylvania split between Eastern Orthodox, Greek Catholic and other forms of Christianity, during

580-495: A certain laziness and indifference brought on by the then-typical life of a young prodigy violinist. He had grown accustomed to playing crowd-pleasing salon miniatures and dazzling virtuosic encores without much thought. He knew little of the works of the great masters; he could play them, but not fully understand them. As Szigeti put it, Busoni—particularly through their careful study of Bach's Chaconne —"shook me once and for all out of my adolescent complacency". In 1913, Szigeti

725-512: A comic performance of Frantisek Drdla 's Souvenir in the film Hollywood Canteen . During the 1950s, Szigeti began to develop arthritis in his hands and his playing deteriorated. Despite his weakened technical mastery, his intellect and musical expression were still strong, and he continued to draw large audiences to his concerts. In Naples , Italy, in November 1956, just after the Soviets crushed

870-401: A famous French flutist of the day, as well as the young singer John McCormack , were also part of these tours. The most significant of the new contacts was Busoni. The great pianist and composer became Szigeti's mentor during these formative years, and the two would remain close friends until Busoni's death in 1924. By Szigeti's own admission, before meeting Busoni his life was characterized by

1015-521: A friendship that would last until Bartók's death in 1945. Szigeti was allowed to visit Bartok for the last time in 1943 at Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan) , New York with his illness worsening, reading Turkish poems while they spread out on his hospital bed. In 1917, having by then made a full recovery, at age 25 Szigeti was appointed Professor of Violin at the Geneva Conservatory of Music . Szigeti said that this job, although generally satisfying,

1160-522: A general strike, and the trains were not running. His scheduled concert could not go on as planned, but he was forced to stay in Berlin for "interminable days" while the Putsch ran its course. Szigeti writes: "... the impossibility of communicating by phone or wire with my wife--whose condition I pictured with the somewhat lurid pessimism usual to young prospective fathers--was certainly a greater torment to me than all

1305-483: A majority in the counties of Covasna (73.6%) and Harghita (84.8%). The Hungarians are also numerous in the following counties: Mureș (37.8%), Satu Mare (34.5%), Bihor (25.2%), and Sălaj (23.2%). Transylvania is rich in mineral resources, notably lignite , iron , lead , manganese , gold , copper , natural gas , salt , and sulfur . Transylvania's GDP (nominal) is $ 194 billion and its GDP per capita measures around $ 28,574. Transylvania's Human Development Index

1450-456: A man of whom I was very fond". During his time in America, Szigeti took to writing; his memoirs, With Strings Attached: Reminiscences and Reflections were published in 1947. The New York Times reviewed it favorably: although in their description the book was "constructed along utterly anarchistic lines, with each episode and anecdote left pretty much on its own", they asserted that "It also has

1595-525: A mountain cliff after takeoff from an intermediate stop in Las Vegas, killing everyone on board. In 1950, Szigeti was detained at Ellis Island upon returning from a European concert tour and was held for five days under the Internal Security Act . He was released after an Immigration and Naturalization Service inquiry cleared him of unrevealed charges. At the time of his release from Ellis Island,

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1740-638: A musical genre around 1850 in Paris. In 1870, the centre for operetta shifted to Vienna when Paris fell to the Prussians. The form of operetta continued to evolve through the First World War . There are some common characteristics among operettas that flourished from the mid-1850s through the early 1900s, beginning with the French opéra-bouffe . They contain spoken dialogue interspersed between musical numbers, and often

1885-481: A priceless Sèvres vase. Curiously for a Hungarian, from whom one expects wild, energetic, spontaneous qualities, Szigeti travelled even farther up a one-way road of deliberate intellectualism. A young accompanist who worked with Szigeti told me that two hours concentration wouldn't get them beyond the first three bars of a sonata--so much analysis and ratiocination went into his practice ... A similar persnicketiness marked his adjudication. Shortly before he died in 1973, he

2030-402: A quiet sincerity which grew upon the audience, though not with the virility and sweep that other violinists find ... it is clear that Mr. Szigeti is a player to command esteem and respect for his musicianship, for the genuineness of his interpretations, and his artistic style. Among his fellow musicians, Szigeti was widely admired and respected. Violinist Nathan Milstein wrote that Szigeti...

2175-400: A simpler form of music. Many scholars have debated as to which composer should be credited as the inventor of operetta; Jaques Offenbach or Hervé. It is concluded that Hervé completed the groundwork, and Offenbach refined and developed the art form into the concept of operetta as we know it today. Therefore, "Offenbach is considered the father of French operetta – but so is Hervé." Hervé

2320-464: A small part of south-western neighbouring Bukovina to its north east (represented by Suceava County ). Transylvania is known for the scenery of its Carpathian landscape and its rich history, coupled with its multi-cultural character. It also contains Romania's second-largest city, Cluj-Napoca , and other very well preserved medieval iconic cities and towns such as Brașov , Sibiu , Târgu Mureș , Bistrița , Alba Iulia , Mediaș , and Sighișoara . It

2465-570: A sonata recital at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. ) During the 1930s, 1940s and into the 1950s, Szigeti recorded extensively, leaving a significant legacy. Notable recordings include the above-mentioned Library of Congress sonata recital; the studio recording of Bartók's Contrasts with Benny Goodman on clarinet and the composer at the piano; the violin concertos of Beethoven , Brahms , Mendelssohn , Prokofiev (No. 1) and Bloch under

2610-506: A transatlantic style, and the presence of ragged marching tunes. Berlin operettas also sometimes included aspects of burlesque , revue , farce , or cabaret . Paul Lincke pioneered the Berlin operetta in 1899 with Frau Luna , which includes " Berliner Luft " ("Berlin Air"), which became the unofficial anthem of Berlin. His Lysistrata (1902) includes the song and tune " The Glow-Worm ", which remains quite popular internationally. Much later, in

2755-562: Is Leon Jessel 's extremely popular 1917 Schwarzwaldmädel ( Black Forest Girl ). These bucolic, nostalgic, home-loving operettas were officially preferred over Berlin-style operettas after 1933, when the Nazis came to power and instituted the Reichsmusikkammer (State Music Institute), which deprecated and banned "decadent" music like jazz and similar "foreign" musical forms. In the beginning of twenty-first century, German revival of operetta

2900-626: Is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe , encompassing central Romania . To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains and to the west the Apuseni Mountains . Broader definitions of Transylvania also include the western and northwestern Romanian regions of Crișana and Maramureș , and occasionally Banat . Historical Transylvania also includes small parts of neighbouring Western Moldavia and even

3045-937: Is also the home of some of Romania's UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the Villages with fortified churches , the Historic Centre of Sighișoara , the Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains and the Roșia Montană Mining Cultural Landscape . It was under the rule of the Agathyrsi , part of the Dacian Kingdom (168 BC–106 AD), Roman Dacia (106–271), the Goths , the Hunnic Empire (4th–5th centuries),

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3190-408: Is another valuable resource. IT , electronics and automotive industries are important in urban and university centers like Cluj-Napoca ( Robert Bosch GmbH , Emerson Electric ), Timișoara ( Alcatel-Lucent , Flextronics and Continental AG ), Brașov , Sibiu , Oradea and Arad . The cities of Cluj Napoca and Târgu Mureș are connected with a strong medical tradition, and according to

3335-437: Is happy, doing wonders with her gardening, chicken and rabbit raising, preserve and pâté de foie making. She doesn't budge from our place, doesn't want to come back to New York even for a visit, which I, for one, can well understand! Two dogs, an aviary full of exotic birds, tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, asparagus, artichokes, lovely flowers (camellias too!), right in our own little world. Szigeti narrowly escaped being killed in

3480-458: Is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the operetta is usually of a light and amusing character. The subject matter may portray "lovers' spats, mistaken identities, sudden reversals of fortune, and glittering parties". It sometimes also includes satirical commentaries. "Operetta" is the Italian diminutive of "opera" and

3625-681: Is one of the most important cultural centres of Romania and was designated the European Capital of Culture for the year 2007, along with the city of Luxembourg . It was formerly the centre of the Transylvanian Saxon culture and between 1692 and 1791 and 1849–65 was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania . Alba Iulia , a city located on the Mureș River in Alba County, has since

3770-689: Is ranked 0.829, which makes Transylvania the 2nd most developed region in Romania after Bucharest-Ilfov and makes it comparable to countries like the Czech Republic, Poland and Estonia. There are large iron and steel , chemical, and textile industries. Stock raising, agriculture , wine production and fruit growing are important occupations. Agriculture is widespread in the Transylvanian Plateau , including growing cereals, vegetables, viticulture and breeding cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry. Timber

3915-636: Is the largest religion, but other faiths also are present, including Jews and Muslims . Under the Habsburgs , Transylvania served as a place for "religious undesirables". People who arrived in Transylvania included those that did not conform to the Catholic Church and were sent here forcibly, as well as many religious refugees. Transylvania has a long history of religious tolerance, ensured by its religious pluralism. Transylvania has also been (and still is)

4060-501: Is the only university in Europe that has four faculties of theology (Orthodox, Reformed, Roman Catholic, and Greek Catholic). There are also small denominations like Adventism , Jehovah's Witnesses and more. Others Data refers to extended Transylvania (with Banat , Crișana and Maramureș ). Operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera . It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It

4205-558: Is undiminished up to this day. Starker then describes a recital he attended late in Szigeti's career, illustrating both the extent to which Szigeti was suffering from arthritis and his ability to still communicate his musical ideas effectively: "He invited me to his recital in Town Hall ... the first few minutes were excruciating: as I saw later, his fingers had deteriorated to the point that he had almost no flesh on them. But once he loosened up

4350-713: The Gesta Hungarorum , the Vlach ( Blacorum, Blacus ) leader Gelou ruled part of Transylvania before the Hungarians arrived. Historians debate whether he was a historical person or an imaginary figure. The gyulas from the seven chieftains of the Hungarians governed Transylvania in the 10th century. King Stephen I of Hungary asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords. He personally led his army against his maternal uncle Gyula III and Transylvania became part of

4495-503: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , Boris Schwarz commented: Szigeti's performing technique was not always flawless and his tone lacked sensuous beauty, although it acquired a spiritual quality in moments of inspiration ... Szigeti held the bow in an old-fashioned way, with the elbow close to the body, and produced much emphatic power, but not without extraneous sounds. Minor reservations, however, were swept aside by

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4640-462: The New York Times reported that Szigeti had been a "sponsor or patron" of committees or organizations viewed as " subversive " by the U.S. government. Szigeti said after his release that he had never belonged to any political organization in his life, but that gave money or loaned his name to "this cause or that" during the war. The following year, he became a naturalized American citizen. In 1960,

4785-715: The April Laws of 1848. After the failure of the revolution, the March Constitution of Austria decreed that the Principality of Transylvania be a separate crown land entirely independent of Hungary . The separate status of Transylvania ended with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , and it was reincorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary ( Transleithania ) as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire . It

4930-618: The Bran Castle in Brașov County (14th century), and the Hunyad Castle in Hunedoara (15th century). Notable writers such as Emil Cioran , Lucian Blaga , George Coșbuc , Ioan Slavici , Octavian Goga , Liviu Rebreanu , Endre Ady , Elie Wiesel , Elek Benedek and Károly Kós were born in Transylvania. Liviu Rebreanu wrote the novel Ion , which introduces the reader to a depiction of

5075-519: The Carpathian Basin . The First Bulgarian Empire expanded into Southern Transylvania in the 9th century. Smaller Slavic polities were also present, nevertheless they could hardly keep their independence. In the late 9th century, Transylvania was reached and conquered by the Hungarian conquerors . There is an ongoing scholarly debate over the demographics in Transylvania at the time. According to

5220-706: The Carpathian Mountains . The area includes the Transylvanian Plain . Other areas to the west and north are widely considered part of Transylvania; in common reference, the Western border of Transylvania has come to be identified with the present Romanian-Hungarian border, settled in the 1920 Treaty of Trianon, although geographically the two are not identical. Ethnographic areas: Light yellow – historical region of Transylvania Dark yellow – historical regions of Banat , Crișana and Maramureș Grey – historical regions of Wallachia , Moldavia and Dobruja The area of

5365-605: The Centru development region , another six (Bihor, Bistrița-Năsăud, Cluj, Maramureș, Satu Mare, Sălaj) form the Nord-Vest development region , while four (Arad, Caraș-Severin, Hunedoara, Timiș) form the Vest development region . Cluj-Napoca , commonly known as Cluj, is the second most populous city in Romania (as of the 2021 census), after the national capital Bucharest , and is the seat of Cluj County . From 1790 to 1848 and from 1861 to 1867, it

5510-626: The Gounod parody Le petit Faust (1869) and Mam'zelle Nitouche (1883). Jacques Offenbach is most responsible for the development and popularization of operetta—also called opéras bouffes or opérettes —giving it its enormous vogue during the Second Empire and afterwards. In 1849, Offenbach obtained permission to open the Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens, a theatre company that offered programs of two or three satirical one-act sketches. The company

5655-632: The Great Union Day (also called Unification Day , ) occurring on December 1, celebrates this event. The holiday was established after the Romanian Revolution , and marks the unification not only of Transylvania but also of the provinces of Banat , Bessarabia and Bukovina with the Romanian Kingdom . These other provinces had all joined with the Kingdom of Romania a few months earlier. In 1920,

5800-563: The Habsburg monarchy gained possession of Transylvania through the Hungarian crown . After the failure of Rákóczi's War of Independence in 1711, Habsburg control of Transylvania was consolidated, and Hungarian Transylvanian princes were replaced with Habsburg imperial governors. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 , the Hungarian government proclaimed union with Transylvania in

5945-650: The High Middle Ages been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese . Between 1541 and 1690 it was the capital of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom and the later Principality of Transylvania . Alba Iulia also has historical importance: after the end of World War I, representatives of the Romanian population of Transylvania gathered in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918 to proclaim the union of Transylvania with

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6090-590: The Huns , defeated and shattered the Goths, and settled in the area. After the death of Hun King Attila , their empire disintegrated and the Gepids conquered the region in 455, under King Ardaric . For two centuries, the Gepids controlled Transylvania. The Ostrogoths systematically pushed the Gepids out of Pannonia . King Elemund , on the other hand, successfully fought battles against

6235-520: The Jewish population reported Hungarian as their primary language, so they were also counted as ethnically Hungarian in the 1910 census). At the same time, the percentage of the Romanian population decreased from 59.0% to 53.8% and the percentage of the German population decreased from 11.9% to 10.7%, for a total population of 5,262,495. Magyarization policies greatly contributed to this shift. The percentage of

6380-558: The Kingdom of Hungary in 1002. After the Battle of Mohács in 1526 it belonged to the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom , from which the Principality of Transylvania emerged in 1570 by the Treaty of Speyer . During most of the 16th and 17th centuries, the principality was a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire ; however, the principality had dual suzerainty ( Ottoman and Habsburg ). In 1690,

6525-500: The Kingdom of Hungary in 1002. Place names derived from the Hungarian tribes evidence that major Hungarian groups settled in Transylvania from the 950s. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Southeast and Northeast Transylvania was settled by Saxon colonists. In Romanian historiography, Romanians constituted an important part of Transylvania's population even on the eve of the Mongol Invasions . Hungarian historiography claims that

6670-470: The Kingdom of Romania by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. In 1940, Northern Transylvania reverted to Hungary as a result of the Second Vienna Award , but it was returned to Romania after the end of World War II . In popular culture, Transylvania is commonly associated with vampires because of the influence of Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel Dracula and the many subsequent books and films that

6815-550: The Kingdom of Romania . In Transylvania, there are many medieval smaller towns such as Sighișoara , Mediaș , Sebeș , and Bistrița . Official censuses with information on Transylvania's population have been conducted since the 18th century. On May 1, 1784 the Emperor Joseph II called for the first official census of the Habsburg Empire , including Transylvania. The data was published in 1787, and this census showed only

6960-637: The Kingdom of the Gepids (5th–6th centuries), the Avar Khaganate (6th–9th centuries), the Slavs , and the 9th century First Bulgarian Empire . During the late 9th century, Transylvania was reached and conquered by the Hungarian tribes , and Gyula's family from the seven chieftains of the Hungarians ruled it in the 10th century. King Stephen I of Hungary asserted his claim to rule all lands dominated by Hungarian lords. He personally led his army against his maternal uncle Gyula III and Transylvania became part of

7105-761: The Prussian defeat in 1866 , operetta became the sign of a new age in Austria, marked by modernity and industrialization. The most significant composer of operetta in the German language was the Austrian Johann Strauss II (1825–1899). Strauss was recruited from the dance hall and introduced a distinct Viennese style to the genre. Strauss was highly influenced by the work of Offenbach, so much so that he collaborated with many of Offenbach’s librettists for his most popular works. His operetta, Die Fledermaus (1874), became

7250-475: The Russian Revolution of 1917. They married in 1919. In 1925, Szigeti met Leopold Stokowski and played the Bach Chaconne in D minor for him. Less than two weeks later, Szigeti received a telegram from Stokowski's manager in Philadelphia inviting him to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra later that year: it was his American debut. Szigeti had never played with an American orchestra before, nor heard one, and later he wrote of suffering stage fright . He

7395-415: The Székely Land of Eastern Transylvania, and along the newly created border. In August 1940, with the arbitration of Germany and Italy under the Second Vienna Award , Hungary gained Northern Transylvania (including parts of Crișana and Maramureș ), and over 40% of the territory lost in 1920. This award did not solve the nationality problem, as over 1.15–1.3 million Romanians (or 48% to more than 50% of

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7540-399: The Treaty of Karlowitz ; however, some anti-Habsburg elements within the principality submitted to the emperor only in the 1711 Peace of Szatmár , when Habsburg control over Principality of Transylvania was consolidated. The Grand Principality of Transylvania was reintroduced 54 years later in 1765. The Hungarian revolution against the Habsburgs started in 1848, and grew into a war for

7685-407: The Treaty of Trianon established new borders and much of the proclaimed territories became part of Romania. Hungary protested against the new state borders, as they did not follow the real ethnic boundaries, for over 1.3 or 1.6 million Hungarian people, representing 25.5 or 31.6% of the Transylvanian population (depending on statistics used), were living on the Romanian side of the border, mainly in

7830-411: The empire came close to the brink of collapse. Thus, the new young emperor Franz Joseph I had to call for Russian help under the Holy Alliance. Czar Nicholas I answered, and sent an army of 200,000 men with 80,000 auxiliary forces. Finally, the joint army of Russian and Austrian forces defeated the Hungarian forces. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary was placed under martial law. Following

7975-407: The ethnic Romanians from Transylvania, Banat, Crișana and Maramureș backed by the mobilization of Romanian troops , proclaimed Union with Romania on 1 December 1918. The Proclamation of Union of Alba Iulia was adopted by the Deputies of the Romanians from Transylvania and supported one month later by the vote of the Deputies of the Saxons from Transylvania. The national holiday of Romania ,

8120-427: The "comique" part of the genre name had become misleading: Georges Bizet 's Carmen (1875) is an example of an opéra comique with a tragic plot. The definition of "comique" meant something closer to "humanistic", meant to portray "real life" in a more realistic way, representing tragedy and comedy next to each other, as Shakespeare had done centuries earlier. With this new connotation, opéra comique had dominated

8265-434: The 1860s and 1870s are described as rowdy and loud. Operetta was considered one of the major controversies about Italian music and culture between the 1860s and the 1920s. During that period, strong nationalistic undertones in Italy strived to unify its national identity. Recognizing operetta as a foreign genre, operetta was perceived as an art form that would contaminate Italian opera or illegitimately undermine its primacy on

8410-432: The 1920s and 1930s, Kurt Weill took a more extreme form of the Berlin operetta style and used it in his operas, operettas, and musicals. It is arguable that some of Kurt Weill 's compositions could be considered modernist operetta. The Berlin-style operetta coexisted with more bourgeois, charming, home-loving, and nationalistic German operettas – some of which were called Volksoperetten (folk operettas). A prime example

8555-635: The Communist Period the Orthodox Church was much more favored by the state which has led to Eastern Orthodoxy being the religion of the majority of Transylvanians. However, among the Hungarian and German minorities only a small part are Eastern Orthodox. The main two religions of the Hungarian minority are Reformed (Calvinism) and Roman Catholicism; among Germans the main religions are Roman Catholicism (slightly over half of Germans in Romania ), followed by Lutheranism and Eastern Orthodox. There are also Pentecostals and Baptists , particularly in Banat and Crișana. Babeș-Bolyai University , located in Cluj-Napoca

8700-454: The Eastern Roman Empire. They were defeated by the Lombards and Avars in 567. In the following years, the Avars took full control over Transylvania, heavily settling the area with Slavic tribes who accepted their suzerainty. The expansion of the Frankish Empire , however, imposed a growing threat on them and their khaganate was crushed in the Avar Wars . The Avars and Slavs, although substantially depleted in number, continued to inhabit

8845-404: The French operatic stage since the decline of tragédie lyrique . The origins of French operetta began when comic actors would perform dances and songs to crowds of people at fairs on open-air stages. In the beginning of the 18th century these actors began to perform comic parodies of known operas. These performances formed operetta as a casual genre derived from opéra comique , while returning to

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8990-443: The Hungarian Army's surrender at Világos (now Șiria , Romania) in 1849, their revolutionary banners were taken to Russia by the Tsarist troops and were kept there both under the Tsarist and Communist systems (in 1940 the Soviet Union offered the banners to the Horthy government). After the Ausgleich of 1867, the Principality of Transylvania was once again abolished. The territory then became part of Transleithania , an addition to

9135-485: The Hungarian uprising, as soon as he walked onto the stage the audience burst into wild applause and shouts of Viva l’Ungheria! (Italian for "Long live Hungary!"), delaying the concert for nearly fifteen minutes. In 1960 Szigeti officially retired from performing, and returned to Switzerland with his wife. There he devoted himself primarily to teaching, although he still traveled regularly to judge international violin competitions. Top-class students from all over Europe and

9280-514: The Old Kingdom, most notably to Bucharest ). According to the results of the 2011 census , the total population of Transylvania was 6,789,250 inhabitants and the ethnic groups were: Romanians – 70.62%, Hungarians – 17.92%, Roma – 3.99%, Ukrainians – 0.63%, Germans (mostly Transylvanian Saxons and Banat Swabians, but also Zipsers, Sathmar Swabians, or Landlers) – 0.49%, other – 0.77%. Some 378,298 inhabitants (5.58%) have not declared their ethnicity. The ethnic Hungarian population of Transylvania form

9425-407: The Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. Through the transfer of operetta among different countries, cultural cosmopolitanism emerged in the previous century. Operetta as a genre lost favor in the 1930s and gave way to modern musical theatre . Important operetta composers include Johann Strauss , Jacques Offenbach , Franz Lehár , and Francisco Alonso . The term operetta arises in

9570-404: The Romanian majority has significantly increased since the declaration of the union of Transylvania with Romania after World War I in 1918. The proportion of Hungarians in Transylvania was in steep decline as more of the region's inhabitants moved into urban areas, where the pressure to assimilate and Romanianize was greater. The expropriation of the estates of Magyar magnates , the distribution of

9715-524: The Saxons. In retaliation, the Saxons distributed poems of cruelty and other propaganda characterising the sadistic Vlad III Dracula as a drinker of blood. The earliest known reference to Transylvania appears in a Medieval Latin document of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1078 as ultra silvam , meaning "beyond the forest" ( ultra meaning "beyond" or "on the far side of" and the accusative case of Sylva ( sylvam ) "woods, forest"). Transylvania, with an alternative Latin prepositional prefix, means "on

9860-403: The Treaty of Trianon, 27 years earlier, thus confirming the return of Northern Transylvania to Romania. From 1947 to 1989, Transylvania, along with the rest of Romania, was under a communist regime . The ethnic clashes of Târgu Mureș between ethnic Romanians and Hungarians in March 1990 took place after the fall of the communist regime and became the most notable inter-ethnic incident in

10005-568: The United States came to study under him. One of these students was Arnold Steinhardt , who spent the summer of 1962 with Szigeti. He came to the conclusion that "Joseph Szigeti was a template for the musician I would like to become: inquisitive, innovative, sensitive, feeling, informed". Toward the end of his life, Szigeti suffered from frail health. He was put on strict diets and had several stays in hospital, but his friends asserted that this did nothing to dampen his characteristic cheerfulness. He died in Lucerne , Switzerland on February 19, 1973, at

10150-497: The Vlach population entered Transylvania from the Balkans only in the 12th century, and the devastating invasion of Mongols had also as consequence the large-scale immigration by Romanians, however the immigration of Romanians did not happen all at once, the process of settlement stretched over several centuries. After the Battle of Kosovo and Ottoman arrival at the Hungarian border, thousands of Vlach and Serbian refugees came to Transylvania. Between 1002 and 1526, Transylvania

10295-420: The age of 80. The New York Times ran a front-page obituary that ended with this 1966 quote from violinist Yehudi Menuhin : We must be humbly grateful that the breed of cultured and chivalrous violin virtuosos, aristocrats as human beings and as musicians, has survived into our hostile age in the person of Joseph Szigeti. In 1918, while teaching in Geneva, Szigeti met and fell in love with Wanda Ostrowska. She

10440-496: The appearance of strong national schools in both nations. By the 1870s, however, Offenbach's popularity declined. The public showed more interest in romantic operettas that showed the "grace and refinement" of the late Romantic period. This included Messager 's operetta Véronique and Louis Ganne 's Les saltimbanques . The 20th century found French operetta even more out of favor as the international public turned to Anglo-American and Viennese operettas, which continued to develop

10585-589: The art form into the late Romantic era. Offenbach was unabashed about spreading operetta around the continent. In 1861, he staged some of his recent works at the Carltheater in Vienna , which paved the way for Austrian and German composers. Soon, Vienna became the epicenter of operetta productions. It is because of the Viennese operetta, not the French, that the term is used to describe a full-length work. Additionally, after

10730-490: The batons of such conductors as Bruno Walter , Hamilton Harty and Sir Thomas Beecham ; and various works by J.S. Bach, Busoni, Corelli , Handel and Mozart . One of his last recordings was of the Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin by Bach; although his technique had deteriorated noticeably by that time, the recording is prized for Szigeti's insight and depth of interpretation. In 1944, Szigeti joined Jack Benny in

10875-408: The boy was sent to live with his grandparents in the little Carpathian town of Máramaros-Sziget (hence the name Szigeti ). He grew up surrounded by music, as the town band was composed almost entirely of his uncles. After a few informal lessons on the cimbalom from his aunt, he received his first lessons on the violin from his Uncle Bernat at the age of six. Szigeti quickly showed a talent for

11020-455: The centuries and ranges depending on each country's history with the genre. It is often used to refer to pieces that resemble the one-act compositions by Offenbach in contrast with his full length compositions, ‘opéra-bouffe’. Offenbach invented this art form in response to the French government's oppressive laws surrounding the stagings of works that were larger than one act or contained more than four characters. Operetta became recognized as

11165-489: The couple returned to Europe and settled near Lake Geneva in Switzerland, close to the home of their daughter and son-in-law. They remained there for the rest of their lives. Wanda died in 1971, predeceasing her husband by two years. Szigeti found his final resting place at the cemetery of Clarens next to his wife. Their daughter Irene and son-in-law Nikita Magaloff are buried just a few meters from their grave. Writing in

11310-623: The development of both the West End in London and Broadway in New York. American audiences were first introduced to operetta through Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878 . American operetta composers included Victor Herbert , whose works at the beginning of the 20th century were influenced by both Viennese operetta and Gilbert and Sullivan. He was followed by Sigmund Romberg and Rudolph Friml . Nevertheless, American operetta largely gave way, by

11455-511: The end of World War I, to musicals , such as the Princess Theatre musicals, and revues , followed by the musicals of Rodgers and Hart , Cole Porter , Irving Berlin and others. Another notable operetta in English is Candide by Leonard Bernstein . It was advertised as a “comic operetta.” Candide’s score in some ways was typical for its announced genre with some waltzes, but Bernstein added

11600-475: The flavor of life in it, and it is marked by an exhilarating revolt against the custom of arranging catastrophes and triumphs under neat chapter headings". Transylvania Transylvania ( Romanian : Transilvania [transilˈvani.a] or Ardeal ; or Hungarian : Erdély [ˈɛrdeːj] ; German : Siebenbürgen [ˌziːbm̩ˈbʏʁɡn̩] or Transsilvanien , historically Überwald ; Transylvanian Saxon : Siweberjen )

11745-576: The force of his musical personality. This comment illustrates well the general nature of Szigeti's reception by both critics and fellow musicians: while his musical insights, intellect, and depth of interpretation were almost universally lauded, the purely technical aspect of his playing was awarded a more mixed reaction. His tone in particular seems to have been occasionally uneven from performance to performance. A 1926 recital review in The New York Times, for example, laments that ... his performance

11890-613: The format in England with their long-running collaboration during the Victorian era . With W. S. Gilbert writing the libretti and Sullivan composing the music, the pair produced 14 comic operas, which were later called Savoy Operas . Most were enormously popular in Britain, the U.S., and elsewhere. Gilbert, Sullivan, and their producer Richard D'Oyly Carte themselves call their joint works comic operas to distinguish this family-friendly fare from

12035-585: The formidable program, the event received mention only by a photograph in the Sunday supplement of the Berliner Tageblatt captioned: "A Musical Prodigy: Josef Szigeti". Szigeti spent the next few months with a summer theater company in a small Hungarian resort town, playing mini-recitals in between acts of folk operetta . In that same vein, the next year he played at a circus in Frankfurt , where he appeared under

12180-585: The genre renewed vitality. Studying at the Prague Conservatory Lehár began as a theatre violinist and then took off as a composer in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During this 1905, Lehár's Die lustige Witwe ( The Merry Widow ) paved a pathway for composers such as Fall , Oscar Straus , and Kálmán to continue the tradition of Operetta. Lehár was also one of the first composers who began to incorporate into film. [2] The Viennese tradition

12325-1114: The historical Voivodeship is 55,146 km (21,292 sq mi). The regions granted to Romania in 1920 covered 23 counties including nearly 102,200 km (39,460 sq mi) (102,787–103,093 km in Hungarian sources and 102,282 km in contemporary Romanian documents). Nowadays, several administrative reorganisations make the territory cover 16 counties ( Romanian : județ ), with an area of 100,290 km (38,722 sq mi), in central and northwest Romania. The 16 counties are: Alba , Arad , Bihor , Bistrița-Năsăud , Brașov , Caraș-Severin , Cluj , Covasna , Harghita , Hunedoara , Maramureș , Mureș , Sălaj , Satu Mare , Sibiu , and Timiș . Transylvania contains both largely urban counties, such as Brașov and Hunedoara counties, as well as largely rural ones, such as Bistrița-Năsăud and Sălaj counties. Since 1998, Romania has been divided into eight development regions , acting as divisions that coordinate and implement socio-economic development at regional level. Six counties (Alba, Brașov, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș and Sibiu) form

12470-487: The lands to the Romanian peasants, and the policy of cultural Romanianization that followed the Treaty of Trianon were major causes of friction between Hungary and Romania. Other factors include the emigration of non-Romanian peoples, assimilation and internal migration within Romania (estimates show that between 1945 and 1977, some 630,000 people moved from the Old Kingdom to Transylvania, and 280,000 from Transylvania to

12615-506: The law. I don't want to postpone the happiness of these two youngsters if we can help it. All laws have been twisted and tortured out of semblance of law, what with war and revolutions. For once let's twist and turn one for a good cause, yes? Just before the birth of their only child, daughter Irene (1920-2005), Szigeti found himself stuck in Berlin during the Kapp Putsch of 1920, unable to return to Geneva. The entire city had been paralyzed by

12760-653: The life of Romanian peasants and intellectuals of Transylvania at the turn of the 20th century. Károly Kós was one of the most important writers supporting the movement of Transylvanianism . Transylvania has a very rich and unique religious history. Since the Protestant Reformation , different Christian denominations have coexisted in this religious melting pot, including Romanian Orthodox , other Eastern Orthodox , Latin Catholic and Romanian Greek Catholic , Lutheran , Reformed , and Unitarian branches. Christianity

12905-501: The local conservatory in 1917. It was in Geneva that he met his future wife, Wanda Ostrowska, and at roughly the same time he became friends with the composer Béla Bartók . Both relationships were to be lifelong. From the 1920s until 1960, Szigeti performed regularly around the world and recorded extensively. He also distinguished himself as a strong advocate of new music, and was the dedicatee of many new works by contemporary composers. Among

13050-484: The mid-eighteenth-century Italy and it is first acknowledged as an independent genre in Paris around 1850. Castil-Blaze 's Dictionnaire de la musique moderne claims that this term has a long history and that Mozart was one of the first people to use the word operetta, disparagingly, describing operettas as "certain dramatic abortions, those miniature compositions in which one finds only cold songs and couplets from vaudeville". The definition of operetta has changed over

13195-532: The more notable pieces written for him are Ernest Bloch 's Violin Concerto, Bartók's Rhapsody No. 1 , and Eugène Ysaÿe 's Solo Sonata No. 1 . After retiring from the concert stage in 1960, he worked at teaching and writing until his death in 1973, at the age of 80. Szigeti was born Joseph "Jóska" Singer to a Jewish family in Budapest , Austria-Hungary . His mother died when he was three years old, and soon thereafter

13340-460: The more overtly virtuosic repertoire; however, after making the acquaintance of pianist Ferruccio Busoni , he began to develop a much more thoughtful and intellectual approach to music that eventually earned him the nickname "The Scholarly Virtuoso". Following a bout of tuberculosis that required a stay in a sanatorium in Switzerland, Szigeti settled in Geneva , where he became Professor of Violin at

13485-413: The most performed operetta in the world, and remains his most popular stage work. In all, Strauss wrote 16 operettas and one opera, most with great success when first premiered. Strauss's satire was often generic, unlike Offenbach who commented on real-life matters. Strauss's operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches often have a strongly Viennese style, and his popularity causes many to think of him as

13630-569: The national composer of Austria. The Theater an der Wien never failed to draw huge crowds when his stage works were first performed. After many of the numbers the audience would call noisily for encores. Franz von Suppé , also known as Francesco Ezechiele Ermenegildo, Cavaliere Suppé-Demelli, was born in 1819 and his fame rivals that of Offenbach. Suppé was a leading composer and conductor in Vienna and most known for his operetta Leichte Kavallerie (1866), Fatinitza (1876), and Boccaccio (1879). Suppé

13775-425: The newer musicals, with each influencing the other. The distinctive traits of operetta are found in the musical theatre works of Jerome Kern , Richard Rodgers and Stephen Sondheim . Operetta was first created in Paris, France in the middle of the 19th century in order to satisfy a need for short, light works in contrast to the full-length entertainment of the increasingly serious opéra comique . By this time,

13920-692: The newly established Austro-Hungarian Empire . Romanian intellectuals issued the Blaj Pronouncement in protest. The region was the site of an important battle during World War I, which caused the replacement of the German Chief of Staff, temporarily ceased German offensives on all the other fronts and created a unified Central Powers command under the German Kaiser. Following defeat in World War I , Austria-Hungary disintegrated. Elected representatives of

14065-595: The other discomforts put together". By 1940, the outbreak of World War II forced the Szigetis to leave Europe for the United States, while Irene remained in Switzerland, having married pianist Nikita Magaloff (1912-1992) earlier that year. They settled in California, where Wanda, always fond of nature, was delighted to be able to raise her own garden. In a letter to a friend, Szigeti describes their California life: Wanda

14210-479: The other side of the woods". The Medieval Latin form Ultrasylvania , later Transylvania , was a direct translation from the Hungarian form Erdő-elve , later Erdély , from which also the Romanian name, Ardeal , comes. That also was used as an alternative name in German überwald ("beyond the forest") (13th–14th centuries) and Ukrainian Залісся ( Zalissia ). Historical names of Transylvania are: The first known civilization to inhabit

14355-426: The overall population (1,440,986 inhabitants). Fényes Elek , a 19th-century Hungarian statistician, estimated in 1842 that in the population of Transylvania for the years 1830–1840 the majority were 62.3% Romanians and 23.3% Hungarians . In the last quarter of the 19th century, the Hungarian population of Transylvania increased from 24.9% in 1869 to 31.6%, as indicated in the 1910 Hungarian census (the majority of

14500-677: The pants off my audiences!") By 1930, Szigeti was established as a major international concert violinist. He performed extensively in Europe, the United States and Asia, and made the acquaintance of many of the era's leading instrumentalists, conductors and composers. In 1939, to escape the war and Nazi persecution of the Jews, Szigeti emigrated with his wife to the United States, where they settled in California . (A year later, Bartók also fled to America, and just two days after his arrival, he and Szigeti played

14645-407: The permission only of Ostrowska's sister and the headmistress of the finishing school. Further bureaucratic entanglements threatened the young couple's hopes, but eventually the officials responsible granted them a dispensation to marry. Szigeti recalls in his memoirs the words of Consul General Baron de Montlong at the critical moment: Let us not, if we can avoid it, fall victim to the dead letter of

14790-518: The plane crash that claimed the life of movie star Carole Lombard in January 1942. Szigeti, who was on his way to Los Angeles for a concert, was forced to give up his seat on TWA Flight 3 at a refueling stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico , to allow the plane to take on 15 soldiers who, it being wartime, had priority. The plane, off course at night and with wartime blackout conditions in effect, crashed into

14935-698: The population of the ceded territory) remained in Northern Transylvania while 0.36–0.8 million Hungarians (or 11% to more than 20% of the population) continued to reside in Southern Transylvania . The Second Vienna Award was voided on 12 September 1944 by the Allied Commission through the Armistice Agreement with Romania (Article 19), and the 1947 Treaty of Paris reaffirmed the borders between Romania and Hungary as originally defined in

15080-552: The post-communist era. The Transylvanian Plateau , 300 to 500 metres (980–1,640 feet) high, is drained by the Mureș , Someș , Criș , and Olt rivers, as well as other tributaries of the Danube . This core of historical Transylvania roughly corresponds with nine counties of modern Romania. The plateau is almost entirely surrounded by the Eastern , Southern and Romanian Western branches of

15225-477: The preeminent teachers in Europe and a fountainhead of the Hungarian violin tradition. Szigeti joined such violinists as Franz von Vecsey , Emil Telmányi , Jelly d'Arányi and Stefi Geyer in Hubay's studio. In those days, Europe produced a great many child prodigies , inspired by the phenomenal success of the young Czech virtuoso Jan Kubelík and formed by rigorous teaching and enthusiastic parents. The Hubay studio

15370-444: The principal characters, as well as the chorus, are called upon to dance, although the music is largely derived from 19th-century operatic styles, with an emphasis on singable melodies. Operetta in the twentieth century is more complex and reached its pinnacle in Austria and Germany. Operetta is a precursor of the modern musical theatre or the "musical". In the early decades of the 20th century, operetta continued to exist alongside

15515-431: The pseudonym "Jóska Szulagi". Also in 1906, Hubay took Szigeti to play for Joseph Joachim in Berlin. Joachim was impressed, and suggested that Szigeti should finish his studies with him. Szigeti declined the offer, both out of loyalty to Hubay and a perceived aloofness and lack of rapport between Joachim and his students. Soon after the meeting with Joachim, Szigeti embarked on a major concert tour of England. Midway through

15660-454: The region was divided during the war) was crucial to the Romanian defense industry. Transylvanian factories built until 1945 over 1,000 warplanes and over 1,000 artillery pieces of all types, among others . The culture of Transylvania is complex because of its varied history and longstanding multiculturalism, which has incorporated significant Hungarian (see Hungarians in Romania ) and German (see Germans of Romania ) influences. The region

15805-598: The risqué French operettas of the 1850s and 1860s. Their works, such as H.M.S. Pinafore , The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado , continue to enjoy regular performances throughout the English-speaking world. While many of these operas seem to be very light-hearted, works such as the Mikado were making political commentaries on the British government and military with one of the main topics being capital punishment which

15950-419: The same classifications top performance hospitals exist there. Native brands include: Roman of Brașov (trucks and buses), Azomureș of Târgu Mureș (fertilizers), Terapia of Cluj-Napoca (pharmaceuticals), Banca Transilvania of Cluj-Napoca (finance), Romgaz and Transgaz of Mediaș (natural gas), Jidvei of Alba county (alcoholic beverages), Timișoreana of Timișoara (alcoholic beverages),

16095-467: The schottische, gavotte, and other dances, and also entered the opera house with the aria “Glitter and Be Gay” Operetta was the first imported vocal genre in Italy. Since the 1860s, French and Viennese composers such as Offenbach , Hervé , Suppé , Strauss Jr and Lehár have significantly influenced the operatic tradition of Italy. The widespread popularity of foreign operetta in Italy reached its climax at

16240-547: The state owned Cugir Arms Factory , and others. The Jiu Valley , located in the south of Hunedoara County , has been a major mining area throughout the second half of the 19th century and the 20th century, but many mines were closed down in the years following the collapse of the communist regime, forcing the region to diversify its economy. During the Second World War, Transylvania (the Southern/Romanian half, as

16385-584: The story has inspired. Many Transylvanian Saxons were furious with Vlad the Impaler for strengthening the borders of Wallachia , which interfered with their control of trade routes, and his extreme sadism and barbarity, which by a collection of credible historical accounts of diverse origins, most of which were non-Saxon, led to the industrial-scale execution of over 100,000 people by impaling, some of whom were Saxons. The victims were often arranged in grotesque displays intended to terrorize various groups, including

16530-769: The suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I , and the region was officially attached to the Habsburg Empire. The Habsburgs acknowledged the Principality of Transylvania as one of the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen , but the territory of the principality was administratively separated from Habsburg Hungary, and subjected to the direct rule of the emperor's governors. In 1699 the Ottomans legally acknowledged their loss of Transylvania in

16675-524: The territory was the Agathyrsi , of the Scythic cultures . From the 4th century BC, Celtic La Tène culture came to domination. The indigenous Dacian tribes engaged in politics from the 1st century BC and united under King Burebista , forming their kingdom Dacia . The Roman Empire made heavy efforts to seize the territory from King Decebalus , resulting in the formation of Roman Dacia in 106, after Trajan 's costly and bloody wars . During Roman rule,

16820-465: The territory, depleted of its indigenous population, was repopulated with Latin colonists and its rich resource stock was systematically exploited. However, the growing threat of East Germanic and Carpic invasions made Emperor Aurelian withdraw his legions and evacuate the citizens south of the Lower Danube in 275, when the province became occupied by the Goths . In 376, a powerful nomadic people,

16965-481: The theory of Daco-Roman continuity, Romanians continuously lived on the territory. Opponents of that hypothesis point to the lack of written, archaeological and linguistic evidence to support it. Hungarian medieval chronicles claimed that the Székely people descended from the Huns , who remained in Transylvania, and later, in combination with the returning Hungarians , conquered the Carpathian Basin . According to

17110-550: The total independence of the Kingdom of Hungary from the Habsburg dynasty . Julius Jacob von Haynau , the leader of the Austrian army, was appointed plenipotentiary to restore order in Hungary after the conflict. He ordered the execution of The 13 Hungarian Martyrs of Arad , and Prime Minister Batthyány was executed the same day in Pest . After a series of serious Austrian defeats in 1849,

17255-542: The tour, in Surrey , he met a music-loving couple who effectively adopted him, extending an invitation to stay with them for an indefinite length of time. Throughout England, he gave many successful concerts, including the premiere of the first work dedicated to him: Hamilton Harty 's Violin Concerto. Also during this time, Szigeti toured with an all-star ensemble including legendary singer Dame Nellie Melba and pianists Ferruccio Busoni and Wilhelm Backhaus . Philippe Gaubert ,

17400-472: The treaty. The Principality of Transylvania continued to be part of the Kingdom of Hungary in the sense of public law, which stressed in a highly significant way that John Sigismund's possessions belonged to the Holy Crown of Hungary and he was not permitted to alienate them. The Habsburgs acquired the territory shortly after the Battle of Vienna in 1683. In 1687, the rulers of Transylvania recognized

17545-720: The turn of the century, in particular with the success of La vedova allegra , which premiered in Milan in 1907. Italian operetta composers tended to stretch the definition of an "operetta" more than other nations in order to fit the beauty of Italian Romantic opera style. An example would be Giacomo Puccini , who developed his work in the realistic verisimo style, and would compose "operettas in three acts". Other notable composers of Italian operetta include Vincenzo Valente , Ruggero Leoncavallo , Pasquale Mario Costa , Pietro Mascagni , Carlo Lombardo , Enrico Toselli , Virgilio Ranzato and Giuseppe Pietri . The audiences of operetta during

17690-490: The violin. Several years later, his father took him to Budapest to receive proper training at the conservatory . After a brief stint with an inadequate teacher, Szigeti auditioned at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and was admitted directly into the class of Jenő Hubay , without the usual delays and formalities. Hubay, who had been a student of Joseph Joachim in Berlin, had by that time established himself as one of

17835-512: Was a contemporary to Strauss and composed over 30 operettas 180 farces, ballets and other stage works. Recently, though most of his works have been fallen into obscurity, many of them have been reprised within films, cartoons, advertisements and so on. Both Strauss and Suppé are considered to be the most notable composers of the Golden Age of Viennese operetta. Following the death of Johann Strauss and his contemporary, Franz von Suppé , Franz Lehár

17980-586: Was a member of our jury at the City of London Carl Flesch Concours ... I was struck not only by the sharpness of his intellect but also by what seemed to me the perversity of his opinions. Some particular aspect of a competitor's playing would hold his attention, and he would take violent issue with it, to the exclusion of everything else. For him a violinist was made or broken, a prize awarded or withheld, on details that to me scarcely mattered. Nevertheless, Menuhin too referred to Szigeti as "a violinist whom I much admired and

18125-504: Was a singer, composer, librettist, conductor, and scene painter. In 1842, he wrote the one act opérette , L'Ours et le pacha , based on the popular vaudeville by Eugène Scribe and X. B. Saintine . In 1848, Hervé made his first notable appearance on the Parisian stage, with Don Quichotte et Sancho Pança (after Cervantes ), which can be considered the starting point for the new French musical theatre tradition. Hervé's most famous works are

18270-543: Was also during this period that Romanians experienced the awakening of self-consciousness as a nation, manifested in cultural and ideological movements such as Transylvanian School , and drafted political petitions such as Supplex Libellus Valachorum . After World War I , the National Assembly of Romanians from Transylvania proclaimed the Union of Transylvania with Romania on 1 December 1918, and Transylvania became part of

18415-424: Was an incredibly cultured musician. Actually his talent grew out of his culture ... I always admired him, and he was respected by musicians ... in his late years, he finally got the appreciation he deserved from the general public as well. In his memoirs, published in 2004, cellist János Starker asserts that Szigeti was one of the giants among the violinists I had heard from childhood on, and my admiration for him

18560-515: Was an unforeseen theatrical development. Notable German operetta composers include Paul Lincke , Eduard Künneke , Walter Kollo , Jean Gilbert , Leon Jessel , Rudolf Dellinger , Walter Goetze and Ludwig Schmidseder . Offenbach's influence reached England by the 1860s. Arthur Sullivan , of the Gilbert and Sullivan duo, composed Cox and Box (1866) as a direct reaction to Offenbach's Les deux aveugles (1855). Gilbert and Sullivan solidified

18705-557: Was born in Russia and had been stranded by the Russian Revolution of 1917 with her sister at a finishing school in Geneva. In 1919, Szigeti and Ostrowska decided to get married, but due to the turbulent political situation in Europe, many unexpected bureaucratic obstacles were thrown up in their path. The first problem was the impossibility of contacting Ostrowska's family, and the couple were forced to go ahead without parental consent, with

18850-552: Was by far the most successful. It became the first repertory operetta and was staged hundreds of times across Europe and beyond. Offenbach's legacy is seen in operettas throughout the late 19th century and beyond by encouraging Strauss the Younger to bring the genre to Austria-Hungary. Offenbach also traveled to the US and England educating musicians on the more than 100 operettas he wrote during his lifetime. This international travel resulted in

18995-537: Was carried on by Oscar Straus , Carl Zeller , Karl Millöcker , Leo Fall , Richard Heuberger , Edmund Eysler , Ralph Benatzky , Robert Stolz , Leo Ascher , Emmerich Kálmán , Nico Dostal , Fred Raymond , Igo Hofstetter , Paul Abraham and Ivo Tijardović in the 20th century. In the same way that Vienna was the center of Austrian operetta, Berlin was the center of German operetta. Berlin operetta often had its own style, including, especially after World War I , elements of jazz and other syncopated dance rhythms,

19140-589: Was currently playing every evening in Europe in nine languages. In the USA, five companies were presenting it, and "the rush for tickets at the New Amsterdam Theatre" was likened to "the feverish crowding round the doors of a threatened bank". Stan Czech, in his Lehár biography, claims that by 1910 it had been performed "around 18,000 times in ten languages on 154 American, 142 German, and 135 British stages". The international embrace of operetta directly correlated with

19285-653: Was designed to entertain the public". Two other French composers, Robert Planquette and Charles Lecocq , followed Offenbach's model and wrote the operettas Les Cloches de Corneville ( The Bells of Normandy ) and La Fille de Madame Angot ( The Daughter of Madame Angot ). The two operettas were considered a major hit. The political limitations placed on Offenbach and Parisian theatre were gradually lifted, and operetta gained wide popularity. While Offenbach's earliest one-act pieces included Les deux aveugles , Le violoneux and Ba-ta-clan (all 1855) did well, his first full-length operetta, Orphée aux enfers (1858),

19430-476: Was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was sent to a sanatorium in Davos , Switzerland to recover, interrupting his concert career. During his stay at the sanatorium, he became re-acquainted with the composer Béla Bartók , who was recovering from pneumonia . His doctor recommended to practice the violin 25 to 30 minutes a day. The two had known each other only in passing during their conservatory days, but now they began

19575-640: Was no exception; Szigeti and his fellow wunderkinder performed extensively in special recitals and salon concerts during their study at the Liszt Academy. He went to study at the Conservatory in Budapest for 2 years before his debut. In 1905, at the age of thirteen, Szigeti made his Berlin debut playing Bach's Chaconne in D minor , Ernst's Concerto in F-sharp minor, and Paganini 's Witches Dance . Despite

19720-434: Was often frustrating due to the mediocre quality of many of his students. The years teaching in Geneva provided an opportunity for Szigeti to deepen his understanding of music as an art, along with other aspects such as chamber music, orchestral performance, music theory and composition. Also during that time, Szigeti met and fell in love with Wanda Ostrowska, a young woman of Russian parentage who had been stranded in Geneva by

19865-481: Was part of the Kingdom of Hungary , led by a voivode appointed by the King of Hungary . After the Battle of Mohács in 1526, Transylvania became part of the Eastern Hungarian Kingdom . Later, in 1570, the kingdom became the Principality of Transylvania by the Treaty of Speyer , which was ruled primarily by Calvinist Hungarian princes . The Eastern Hungarian king became the first prince of Transylvania , according to

20010-552: Was so successful that it led to the elongation of these sketches into an evening's duration. However, Offenbach's productions were bound by the police prefecture in Paris, which specified the type of performance that would be allowed: "pantomimes with at most five performers, one-act comic musical dialogues for two to three actors, and dance routines with no more than five dancers; choruses were strictly forbidden." These rules defined what came to be defined as operetta: "a small unpretentious operatic work that had no tragic implications and

20155-468: Was stiff and dry in its observance of letter and its absence of spirit ... Mr. Szigeti was not only inclined to dryness of tone and angularity of phrase, but there were also passages of poor intonation. In contrast, a review from the previous year in the same journal remarked after a performance of the Beethoven concerto that Mr. Szigeti has a rather small but beautiful tone, elegance, finish. He played with

20300-738: Was still widely used at the time. English operetta continued into the 1890s, with works by composers such as Edward German , Ivan Caryll and Sidney Jones . These quickly evolved into the lighter song-and-dance pieces known as Edwardian musical comedy . Beginning in 1907, with The Merry Widow , many of the Viennese operettas were adapted very successfully for the English stage. To explain this phenomenon, Derek Scott writes, In January 1908, London’s Daily Mail claimed that The Merry Widow had been performed 450 times in Vienna, 400 times in Berlin, 350 times in St Petersburg, 300 times in Copenhagen, and

20445-638: Was taken aback by the American concert scene, and the way that its publicity and popularity driven agents and managers determined much of what was heard in American concert halls. He believed they were not interested in works by the great masters, but preferred the popular light salon pieces he had left behind in his prodigy days. (To the end of his life, Szigeti loved to quote one memorable, cigar-chewing impresario who told him, with regard to Beethoven 's Kreutzer Sonata , "Well, let me tell you, Mister Dzigedy—and I know what I’m talking about—your Krewtzer Sonata bores

20590-643: Was the birthplace of the Transylvanian School movement, its members, namely Samuil Micu-Klein , Petru Maior , and Gheorghe Șincai , being responsible for the early version of Romanian alphabet . With regard to architecture, the Transylvanian Gothic style is preserved to this day in monuments such as the Black Church in Brașov (14th and 15th centuries) and a number of other cathedrals , as well as

20735-462: Was the heir apparent. Lehar is widely considered the leading operetta composer of the 20th century and his most successful operetta, Die lustige Witwe ( The Merry Widow ), is one of the classic operettas still in repertory. Lehár assisted in leading operetta into the Silver Age of Viennese Operetta. During this time, Viennese Censorship laws were changed in 1919. Lehár is most responsible for giving

20880-524: Was the official capital of the Grand Principality of Transylvania . Brașov is an important tourist destination, being the largest city in a mountain resorts area, and a central location, suitable for exploring Romania, with the distances to several tourist destinations (including the Black Sea resorts, the monasteries in northern Moldavia , and the wooden churches of Maramureș ) being similar. Sibiu

21025-445: Was used originally to describe a shorter, perhaps less ambitious work than an opera. Operetta provides an alternative to operatic performances in an accessible form targeting a different audience. Operetta became a recognizable form in the mid-19th century in France, and its popularity led to the development of many national styles of operetta. Distinctive styles emerged across countries including Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, Spain,

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