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{{short description|Form of theatre and a genre of light opera}}
{{about|the form of theatre and a genre of light opera|the film genre|Operetta film|the German film of the same name|Operetta (film)||}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}
[[File:Bouffes parisiens (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The audience at the [[Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens]], the birthplace of [[Jacques Offenbach]]'s operettas. Caricature of 1860 by [[Émile Bayard]].]]

'''Operetta''' is a form of theatre and a genre of [[light opera]]. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than [[opera]] in terms of its music, orchestral size,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013-10-19|title=Opera, Operetta, or Musical Theatre. – Blog|url=http://www.operavivra.com/blog/opera-operetta-or-musical-theatre/|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Opera Vivrà|language=en-US}}</ref> and length of the work.<ref name=":4">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198601746.001.0001/acref-9780198601746-e-2944 |isbn=978-0-19-860174-6 |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance |chapter=Operetta |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |editor1-first=Dennis |editor1-last=Kennedy }}</ref> Apart from its shorter length, the operetta is usually of a light and amusing character.<ref name="ashoo">{{cite book|author1=Grout, Donald Jay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xXZhKagLO4C|title=A Short History of Opera|author2=Williams, Hermine Weigel|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2013|isbn=978-0-231-50772-1|page=378|access-date=2 May 2015|name-list-style=amp}}</ref> The subject matter may portray "lovers' spats, mistaken identities, sudden reversals of fortune, and glittering parties".<ref>[https://www.metopera.org/discover/education/educator-guides/merry-widow/little-opera/] Metropolitan Opera website</ref> It sometimes also includes satirical commentaries.<ref name="eno.org">{{Cite web|title=The beginner's guide to operetta {{!}} English National Opera|url=https://eno.org/discover-opera/beginners-guide-operetta/|access-date=2020-10-04|language=en-US|archive-date=18 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518120230/https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/beginners-guide-operetta/}}</ref>
[[File:RitaB.jpg|thumb|A [[Columbia Records]] advertisement for a recording of [[Rita Montaner]] in a production of [[Eliseo Grenet]] and [[Ernesto Lecuona]]'s ''Niña Rita, o, La Habana en 1830'', an operetta from the Spanish genre of ''[[zarzuela]]''.]]
"Operetta" is the Italian diminutive of "opera" and was used originally to describe a shorter, perhaps less ambitious work than an opera.<ref name="Lamb Operetta">{{cite grove |title=Operetta |last=Lamb |first=Andrew |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.20386 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> Distinctive styles emerged across countries including Austria-Hungary, Germany, England, Spain, the Philippines, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States.<ref name=":5">{{cite book |doi=10.1093/obo/9780199757824-0171 |title=Operetta |year=2016 |last1=Baranello |first1=Micaela }}</ref> Through the transfer of operetta among different countries, cultural [[cosmopolitanism]] emerged in the previous century.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Derek B. |title=Early Twentieth-Century Operetta from the German Stage: A Cosmopolitan Genre |journal=The Musical Quarterly |date=29 December 2016 |article-number=gdw009 |doi=10.1093/musqtl/gdw009 }}</ref> Operetta as a genre lost favor in the 1930s and gave way to modern [[musical theatre]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Traubner|first=Richard|date=2004-06-01|title=Operetta|doi=10.4324/9780203509029|isbn=978-0-203-50902-9}}{{pn|date=September 2022}}</ref> Important operetta composers include [[Johann Strauss]], [[Jacques Offenbach]], [[Franz Lehár]], and [[Francisco Alonso]].

== Definitions ==
The term operetta arises in the mid-eighteenth-century Italy and it is first acknowledged as an independent genre in Paris around 1850.<ref name=":4" /> [[Castil-Blaze]]'s ''Dictionnaire de la musique moderne'' claims that this term has a long history and that [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] was one of the first people to use the word operetta, disparagingly,<ref name=":5" /> describing operettas as "certain dramatic abortions, those miniature compositions in which one finds only cold songs and couplets from vaudeville".<ref name=":2">{{cite journal |last1=Sorba |first1=Carlotta |title=The origins of the entertainment industry: the operetta in late nineteenth-century Italy |journal=Journal of Modern Italian Studies |date=September 2006 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=282–302 |doi=10.1080/13545710600806730 |s2cid=144059143 }}</ref> The definition of operetta has changed over the centuries and ranges depending on each country's history with the genre.<ref name=":1" /> 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'.<ref name=":4" /> 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.<ref name="eno.org"/> 
[[File:Boccaccio cover page.jpg|thumb|261x261px|Cover page of ''[[Boccaccio (operetta)|Boccaccio, oder Der Prinz von Palermo]]'' (''Boccaccio, or the Prince of Palermo'') by [[Franz von Suppé]] in 1879. An example of early Viennese operetta.]]

== History ==
Operetta became recognized as a musical genre around 1850 in Paris. In 1870, the centre for operetta shifted to Vienna when Paris fell to the Prussians.<ref name=":4" /> The form of operetta continued to evolve through the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref name=":4" />

There are some common characteristics among operettas that flourished from the mid-1850s through the early 1900s, beginning with the French [[opéra-bouffe]].<ref name="Kurt1">[[Kurt Gänzl|Gänzl, Kurt]]. [https://bachtrack.com/playlist-operetta-musical-not-quite-opera-month-october-2019 "Toperettas: the history of operetta in ten works"], Bachtrack.com, 22 October 2019</ref> They contain spoken dialogue interspersed between musical numbers, and often 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.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> Operetta in the twentieth century is more complex and reached its pinnacle in Austria and Germany.<ref name=":5" />

Operetta is a precursor of the modern [[musical theatre]] or the "musical".<ref>Jones, J. Bush (2003) [https://books.google.com/books?id=WqQH31qkYNoC&dq=Bordman+pinafore&pg=PA4 ''Our Musicals, Ourselves''], pp. 10–11, 2003, Brandeis University Press: Lebanon, New Hampshire {{isbn|1584653116}}</ref> In the early decades of the 20th century, operetta continued to exist alongside 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]].<ref name=":4" />

==Operetta in French==

=== Origins ===
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]]''.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /><ref name="Kurt1" /> By this time, 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 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 a simpler form of music.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Abreu |first=Juliana |date=2004 |title=The Origin and Development of French Operetta in the Nineteenth Century |id={{ProQuest|305111951}} |oclc=56597428 }}</ref> Many scholars have debated as to which composer should be credited as the inventor of operetta; [[Jacques Offenbach|Jaques Offenbach]] or [[Hervé (composer)|Hervé.]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Strömberg |first1=Mikael |title=History Repeating Itself. The function of turning points and continuity in three historical narratives on operetta |journal=Nordic Theatre Studies |date=27 December 2017 |volume=29 |issue=1 |page=102 |doi=10.7146/nts.v29i1.102970 |doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 |url=https://tidsskrift.dk/nts/article/download/103311/152354 |url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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."<ref name=":1" />

=== Notable composers ===
[[File:1878 poster for Jacques Offenbach's Orphée aux enfers.jpg|left|thumb|Playbill for a revival of ''[[Orphée aux enfers]]'']]Hervé 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 [[Comédie en vaudeville|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 [[Miguel de Cervantes|Cervantes]]), which can be considered the starting point for the new French musical theatre tradition. Hervé's most famous works are the [[Charles Gounod|Gounod]] parody ''[[Le petit Faust]]'' (1869) and ''[[Mam'zelle Nitouche]]'' (1883).<ref name="whatsopdoc">{{Cite web|date=2016-01-05|title=The Merry Widow Lesson: What's Operetta, Doc?|url=https://utahopera.org/explore/2016/01/the-merry-widow-lesson-whats-operetta-doc/|access-date=2019-09-28|website=Utah Opera}}</ref>

Jacques Offenbach is most responsible for the development and popularization of operetta—also called {{lang|fr|opéras bouffes}} or {{lang|fr|opérettes}}—giving it its enormous vogue during the [[French Second Empire|Second Empire]] and afterwards.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> 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 was so successful that it led to the elongation of these sketches into an evening's duration.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> 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."<ref name=":2" /> These rules defined what came to be defined as operetta: "a small unpretentious operatic work that had no tragic implications and was designed to entertain the public".<ref name=":2" /> 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'').<ref>{{cite journal |id={{ProQuest|1932310532}} |last1=Fisch |first1=Elliot |year=2017 |title=Operetta Overview: Part 1: French and Viennese Operettas 1850-1900 |journal=American Record Guide |volume=80 |issue=5 |pages=51–57 }}</ref> The two operettas were considered a major hit.
[[File:Just a voice to call me dear.tiff|alt=Riviera Girl poster|thumb|One of the most well-known operettas of famous [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] playwright [[Emmerich Kálmán]] is the Csárdáskirálynő ("Czardas Queen"). It was played at [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]], by the name 'Riviera Girl'.]]
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), was by far the most successful. It became the first repertory operetta and was staged hundreds of times across Europe and beyond.<ref name=":2" />  Offenbach's legacy is seen in operettas throughout the late 19th century and beyond by encouraging [[Johann Strauss II|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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/beginners-guide-operetta/|title=The beginner's guide to operetta |publisher=English National Opera|access-date=2019-09-28}}</ref> This international travel resulted in the appearance of strong national schools in both nations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Letellier|first=Robert Ignatius|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4438-8425-9|pages=xvii, 83}}</ref> 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 [[André Messager|Messager]]'s operetta ''[[Véronique (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 the art form into the late Romantic era.

== Operetta in German and Hungarian ==
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.<ref name=":2" /> It is because of the Viennese operetta, not the French, that the term is used to describe a full-length work.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> Additionally, after the [[Austro-Prussian War|Prussian defeat in 1866]], operetta became the sign of a new age in Austria, marked by modernity and industrialization.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Johann Strauss and Vienna: operetta and the politics of popular culture|last=Crittenden, Camille.|date=2006|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=0-521-02757-8|oclc=443368102}}</ref>

===Austria–Hungary===
[[File:Johann Strauss II (4).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Johann Strauss II]]]]
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.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" />  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.<ref name="eno.org"/> His operetta, ''[[Die Fledermaus]]'' (1874), became 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.<ref name="Lamb Operetta" />

Strauss's satire was often generic, unlike Offenbach who commented on real-life matters.<ref name="eno.org"/>

Strauss's operettas, waltzes, polkas, and marches often have a strongly [[Vienna|Viennese]] style, and his popularity causes many to think of him as 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).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Franz von Suppé {{!}} Austrian composer|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-von-Suppe|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Suppé 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.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9781316856024.004 |chapter=Viennese Golden-Age Operetta: Drinking, Dancing and Social Criticism in a Multi-Ethnic Empire |title=The Cambridge Companion to Operetta |year=2019 |last1=Feurzeig |first1=Lisa |pages=32–46 |isbn=978-1-316-85602-4 |s2cid=211657809 }}</ref>

Following the death of Johann Strauss and his contemporary, [[Franz von Suppé]], [[Franz Lehár]] 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.<ref>{{cite grove |title=Franz Lehar |last=Lamb |first=Andrew |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.16318 }}</ref>
[[File:Lehar Lustige-Witwe KlA-01.jpg|thumb|[[The Merry Widow|''Die lustige Witwe'' (''The Merry Widow'')]] poster by [[Franz Lehár]]]]
Lehár assisted in leading operetta into the Silver Age of Viennese Operetta. During this time, Viennese Censorship laws were changed in 1919.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9781316856024.014 |chapter=The Operetta Factory: Production Systems of Silver-Age Vienna |title=The Cambridge Companion to Operetta |year=2019 |last1=Baranello |first1=Micaela K. |pages=189–204 |isbn=978-1-316-85602-4 |s2cid=213581729 }}</ref> Lehár is most responsible for giving 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 [[Leo Fall|Fall]], [[Oscar Straus (composer)|Oscar Straus]], and [[Emmerich Kálmán|Kálmán]] to continue the tradition of Operetta. Lehár was also one of the first composers who began to incorporate into film. [[#ftn2|[2]]{{Broken anchor|date=2025-06-24|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=#ftn2|reason= }}]

The Viennese tradition was carried on by [[Oscar Straus (composer)|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.

===Germany===
[[File:Paul Lincke (timbre allemand).jpg|thumb|160px|left|[[Paul Lincke]], father of the Berlin operetta]]
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, 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"),<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu13dTdnuh0 "''Berliner Luft''"] conducted by [[Plácido Domingo]] with the [[Berlin Philharmonic]]</ref> 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 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.<ref>Daly, Nicholas (2017-12-14). "2. Modernism, operetta, and Ruritania: Ivor Novello's Glamorous Night". In Ortolano, Scott (ed.). ''Popular Modernism and Its Legacies: From Pop Literature to Video Games''. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. {{ISBN|978-1-5013-2512-0}}.</ref>

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 is [[Leon Jessel]]'s extremely popular 1917 ''[[Schwarzwaldmädel]]'' (''Black Forest Girl'').<ref>Lamb, Andrew. [https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_c3i0/page/203 <!-- quote="black forest girl" jessel. --> ''150 Years of Popular Musical Theatre''.] [[Yale University Press]], 2001. p. 203.</ref> 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 was an unforeseen theatrical development.<ref>Garde, Ulrike; Severn, John R. (2020-10-30). "2. 1930s jazz operetta and internationalisation then and now Risks, ethics, aesthetics". ''Theatre and Internationalization: Perspectives from Australia, Germany, and Beyond''. Routledge. {{ISBN|978-1-000-20905-1}}.</ref>

Notable German operetta composers include [[Paul Lincke]], [[Eduard Künneke]], [[Walter Kollo]], [[Jean Gilbert]], [[Leon Jessel]], [[Rudolf Dellinger]], [[Walter Goetze]] and [[Ludwig Schmidseder]].

== Operetta in English ==
[[File:Pinafore1899.jpg|thumb|right|''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'']]
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).<ref name="Lamb Operetta" /> [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] solidified 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 Opera]]s. 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 opera]]s to distinguish this family-friendly fare from the risqué French operettas of the 1850s and 1860s.<ref>{{harvnb|Jacobs|1984|loc=introductory note on nomenclature}}</ref>  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.<ref>See  {{cite book | last = Bradley | first = Ian | title = Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! The Enduring Phenomenon of Gilbert and Sullivan | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2005 | isbn = 0-19-516700-7 | url = https://archive.org/details/ohjoyohraptureen00brad }} and Hewett, Ivan (2 August 2009)
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/opera/5931987/The-magic-of-Gilbert-and-Sullivan.html "The Magic of Gilbert and Sullivan"]. ''The Telegraph''. Retrieved 14 April 2010.</ref> 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 was still widely used at the time.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The beginner's guide to operetta {{!}} English National Opera|url=https://eno.org/discover-opera/beginners-guide-operetta/|access-date=2020-10-05|language=en-US|archive-date=18 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518120230/https://www.eno.org/discover-opera/beginners-guide-operetta/}}</ref>

English operetta continued into the 1890s, with works by composers such as [[Edward German]], [[Ivan Caryll]] and [[Sidney Jones (composer)|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,<blockquote>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 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".<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Scott|first=Derek B.|title=German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900–1940|date=2019-06-27|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-108-61430-6|doi=10.1017/9781108614306|s2cid=198515413 }}</ref></blockquote>The international embrace of operetta directly correlated with the development of both the [[West End theatre|West End]] in London and Broadway in New York.<ref name=":3" /> American audiences were first introduced to operetta through Gilbert and Sullivan's ''H.M.S. Pinafore'' in 1878''.''<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last=Bordman|first=Gerald|title=American Operetta|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1981|location=New York}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":8">Ledbetter, Steven. [http://www.grovemusic.com "Victor Herbert"], ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy, accessed February 11, 2009 {{subscription required}}</ref> He was followed by [[Sigmund Romberg]] and [[Rudolph Friml]]. Nevertheless, American operetta largely gave way, by the end of World War I, to [[Musical theatre|musicals]], such as the [[Princess Theatre, New York City|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 (operetta)|Candide]] by [[Leonard Bernstein]]. It was advertised as a "comic operetta."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Laird |first1=Paul |title=Genre and Stylistic Expectations in the Musical Theater of Leonard Bernstein |journal=American Music Review |volume=48 |issue=1 |date=Fall 2018 |id={{ProQuest|2182493597}} |url=https://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/centers/hitchcock/publications/amr/v48-1/laird.php }}</ref> Candide's score in some ways was typical for its announced genre with some waltzes, but Bernstein added the schottische, gavotte, and other dances, and also entered the opera house with the aria "Glitter and Be Gay"

== Operetta in Italian ==
Operetta was the first imported vocal genre in Italy.<ref name=":6">{{cite book |doi=10.1017/9781316856024.016 |chapter=Operetta in Italy |title=The Cambridge Companion to Operetta |year=2019 |last1=Lucca |first1=Valeria De |pages=220–231 |isbn=978-1-316-85602-4 |s2cid=217930941 }}</ref> Since the 1860s, French and Viennese composers such as [[Jacques Offenbach|Offenbach]], [[Hervé (composer)|Hervé]], [[Franz von Suppé|Suppé]], [[Johann Strauss II|Strauss Jr]] and [[Franz Lehár|Lehár]] have significantly influenced the operatic tradition of Italy. The widespread popularity of foreign operetta in Italy reached its climax at the turn of the century, in particular with the success of [[The Merry Widow|La vedova allegra]], which premiered in Milan in 1907.<ref name=":6" /> 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 ''[[Verismo|verisimo]]'' style, and would compose "operettas in three acts".<ref name=":9" /> Other notable composers of Italian operetta include [[Vincenzo Valente]], [[Ruggero Leoncavallo]], [[Mario Pasquale Costa|Pasquale Mario Costa]], [[Pietro Mascagni]], [[Carlo Lombardo]], [[Enrico Toselli]], [[Virgilio Ranzato]] and [[Giuseppe Pietri]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last=Letellier|first=Robert Ignatius|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wSfXCgAAQBAJ|title=Operetta: A Sourcebook, Volume II|date=2015-10-19|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-8508-9|language=en}}</ref>

=== Reception and controversy ===
The audiences of operetta during the 1860s and 1870s are described as rowdy and loud.<ref name=":6" /> Operetta was considered one of the major controversies about Italian music and culture between the 1860s and the 1920s.<ref name=":6" /> 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 the stage.<ref name=":6" /> It was not until the early twentieth century that Italian composers systematically engaged in writing operetta.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Music|Opera}}
* [[Comic opera]]
* [[List of operetta composers]]
* [[Musical theatre]]
* [[Operetta film]]
* [[Zarzuela]]

==References==
'''Informational notes'''
{{reflist|group=notes}}

'''Citations'''
{{Reflist}}

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite book|last=Jacobs|first=Arthur|author-link=Arthur Jacobs|year=1984|title=Arthur Sullivan: A Victorian Musician|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-315443-9|url=https://archive.org/details/arthursullivanvi00jaco}}

'''Further reading'''
* Bordman, Gerald (1981) ''American Operetta''. New York: Oxford University Press.
* Clarke, Kevin (2007) ''Glitter and be Gay: Die authentische Operette und ihre schwulen Verehrer''. Hamburg: [[Männerschwarm Verlag]].(German)
* Ganzl, Kurt (2001) ''The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre'' (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books.
* Goulet, Charles (1981) ''Sur la scène et dans la coulisse''. Québec, Qc.: Ministère des Affaires culturelles. {{ISBN|2-551-04178-3}}
* Linhardt, Marion (2006) ''Residenzstadt und Metropole. Zu einer kulturellen Topographie des Wiener Unterhaltungstheaters (1858–1918)''. Berlin: Max Niemeyer Verlag. (German)
* Traubner, Richard (1983) ''Operetta: A Theatrical History''. Garden City, New York: Doubleday.
* Viagrande, iccardo (2009) Tu che m'hai preso il cuor. Un viaggio nel mondo dell'operetta. Monza: Casa Musicale Eco. (Italian)

==External links==
{{commons category|Operetta}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060815014602/http://www.musicaltheatreguide.com/mainmenu.htm Extensive site with information about operettas, light operas and their composers]
*[http://www.musicals101.com/operetta.htm Essay on operettas of Offenbach, Johann Strauss Jr. and their contemporaries]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161114082412/http://operetta-research-center.org/ Operetta Research Center] (with a large archive of historical reviews)
*[https://bachtrack.com/playlist-operetta-musical-not-quite-opera-month-october-2019 Kurt Ganzl's 2019 favourite operettas]
*[https://search.alexanderstreet.com/preview/work/bibliographic_entity%7Crecorded_cd%7C943292 <nowiki>Schwarzkopf Sings Operetta [Streaming Audio]. (2005). Warner Music. (2005). Retrieved from Alexander Street database.</nowiki>] 
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1Tz6boLhI The Differences in an Operetta & a Musical: The Business of Singing – Youtube video posted by Expert Village Leaf Group]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7l5bBnGDL8 Famous Operettas – Youtube video posted by Kaleb Fair]

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