“Land Of Smiles”: Chinese on the Operetta Stage

Abstract

The article is a continuation of the subject matter of the reflection of Chinese themes in European music and stage art, which was started on the pages of this Journal “Art and Education” by these and other authors, as well as it is a reflection of the interest of the European and American public in oriental themes for several centuries. Recent research reveal such interest on the example of opera, ballet, vocal, vocal and choral music, in particular Ukrainian. However, it is obvious there are not enough studies highlighting the genre of operetta, just as there is a lack of research on the theory of dramaturgy of operetta.

The authors of the article pursue two goals: firstly, to draw attention to the genre of operetta that is currently getting popular but is not sufficiently present in the educational process for students to study; secondly, to show an interesting example of the implementation of the mentioned Chinese theme in the genre of operetta. Franz Lehar’s operetta “Land of Smiles”, which takes place in Beijing and Vienna, was chosen as a sample for analysis. The operetta was successful in its time. It is present in the repertoire of European theatres, but it is not performed in Ukraine, although some fragments are included in the concert repertoire of vocalists. The peculiarities of the musical embodiment of the images of the characters belonging to the European and Chinese national cultures, worldview differences, etc. are analysed.

The attention is drawn to the specifics of the innovative interpretation of the operetta by the composer Lehar, who is considered the creator of the Neo-Vienna operetta. The possibility of using the work in teaching art to schoolchildren is examined. The presentation of the text is accompanied by brief recommendations for art teachers regarding the students’ mastery of the genre and specific work, in particular in the form of an invitation to reflection, search activity, discussion, comparisons of performing interpretations of the characters’ images, to the actualization of knowledge from other sciences, in particular history, etc.

The article does not definitively reveal all aspects of the issue but only indicates it. The given example of the work of F. Lehar should be a motivation to continue the analysis of the rapprochement of Eastern and Western ideas about the world in music, which can become a perspective for further research.