Search
When the University of Hartford was incorporated just over 50 years ago by business and community leaders, they envisioned a center of education and culture for Greater Hartford. Read more...
Persons with disabilities who wish to access the WWUH Public File may contact John Ramsey at: ramsey@hartford.edu
Sunday Afternoon at the Opera - Strauss: Blindekuh
Sunday Afternoon at the Opera host Keith Brown writes:
Why not start your New Year's Eve festivities early by listening in the afternoon to this the least known operetta by "The Waltz King" Johann Strauss, the Younger (1825-99)? Blindekuh or "Blind Man's Buff" (1878) was his sixth comic musical theaterwork. Blindekuh never took off as a big hit like Die Fledermaus. It was withdrawn from the stage of Vienna's prestigious Theater an der Wien after only sixteen performances, but its overture was excerpted in concert, and charming melodies from the score lived on in various arrangements.
This neglected charmer from the Golden Age of Viennese operetta received its world premiere recording in 2019 in live concert performance at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia. Dario Salvi directs the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, with a big singing cast. The setting for this operetta is a palace with ballroom and sumptuous gardens. A grand party is underway. By the way, among the guests at this grand affair are an American couple. The 2020 release of Blindekuh through Naxos Records was sponsored by the Johann Strauss Society of Great Britain.