Johann Strauss Jr.'s Overtures - Waldmeister

Johann Strauss II - Woodruff (1895).

Strauss's enthusiasm for the Waldmeister libretto, the work of the journalist and writer Gustav Davis (real name Gustav David, 1856-1951), manifested itself in an outpouring of fresh and inspired melodic invention. The score unequivocally gave the lie to those critics who had declared publicly that the "eternally young" Waltz King was exhausted, and who privately voiced the opinion that the composer's hitherto unquenchable creative flame had finally burned itself out. At the forefront of his musical ideas was an original waltz theme, which cleverly contained an inverted arpeggio of the first three notes in his famous Blue Danube Waltz (An der schönen blauen Donau op. 314 of 1867).

Davis had initially discussed his plans for Waldmeister with Strauss during summer 1894, and the contract they signed with Alexandrine von Schönerer (1850-1919), directrix of the Theater an der Wien, required delivery of the completed musical score on 15 October 1895. Strauss duly adhered to the delivery date, advising Fräulein von Schönerer: "Never in my youthful years did I work so indefatigably". The composer was not disappointed, for Waldmeister was to enjoy an initial run of 88 performances in Vienna, and proved to be the most successful of his later stage works. There was general praise for the entire cast, and Alexander Girardi (1850-1918), in the rôle of the dialect-speaking Saxony Professor of Botany, Erasmus Müller, was again triumphant. (The following year the tenor buffo transferred to the rival Carl-Theater, and Waldmeister was the last original Strauss operetta in which he appeared.)

Among the celebrities attending the opening night of Waldmeister was Johannes Brahms (1833-97). In Erinnerungen an Johannes Brahms (edited by K. Hofrnann, 1971), the music critic Richard Heuberger (1850-1914) recalled a conversation with the north German composer. "Brahms was very enthusiastic about the 'Waldmeister' performance. In particular, he praised the excellent piece and the clever, concise verses: '... which I would like to set to music straight away! - and the orchestral sound! How magnificently Strauss orchestrates! He would certainly have crafted the music itself better in former times, but the thing as a whole! The piece!"'. Dr Eduard Hanslick (1825-1904), editor of the Neue Freie Presse, was also present at the première and recalled in Die Moderne Oper (Vol. IX, 1900) that Brahms had said how Strauss's "splendid" orchestration "reminded him of Mozart".

Reviewing Waldmeister for the Neue Freie Presse on 6 December 1895, Eduard Hanslick opined that the new work's immediate predecessors, at least in some scenes, had teetered on the "dangerous brink of tragic or sentimental style ... 'Waldmeister' turns back much more to the familiar paths of Strauss's most effective operetta, 'Die Fledermaus', not only in its innocuous middle-class material, but also in the logically-structured comedic character of the music". The critic for the Fremden-Blatt (5.12.1895) also filed an enthusiastic copy, observing of the music: "It flows invigoratingly into our ears and veins. It is true Strauss ...". The reporter for the Neues Wiener Tagblatt (5.12.1895) closed his analysis of the première with a brief summary of the evening's events: "The overture was conducted by Johann Strauss in person. When he appeared at the conductor's desk a storm of applause broke out in the house, which was repeated at the end and for which Strauss had to give thanks again and again. Then he handed over the baton to Capellmeister [Adolf] Müller [1839-1901], and this excellent musician conducted the performance with great energy. There were repeats, applause during scenes as well as after the ends of acts, and after these also numerous calls for the entire cast and for Johann Strauss, whose 'Waldmeister-Walzer' will certainly soon become popular in Vienna".

On 8 December 1895 Strauss personally conducted the first concert performance of the Waldmeister Overture at his brother Eduard's benefit concert with the Strauss Orchestra in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein. The novelty closed the first half of an interesting programme which also featured music by Ambroise Thomas, Liszt, Benjamin Godard, Robert Schumann, Paderewski, Mascagni, Mendelssohn and Eduard Strauss. The Illustrirtes Wiener Extrablatt (9.12.1895) noted that Strauss's initial attempt to gain the orchestra's attention by tapping the desk with his baton was drowned out by the tempestuous applause which greeted his arrival at the conductor's podium. After an "exemplary" performance of the overture, the tightly-packed house showed its approval through further hurricanes of applause.

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