SALMHOFER, Franz 1900-1975

Iwan Tarassenko Oper in einem Vorspiel und einem Akt... Klavier-Auszug. [Piano-vocal score]

[Wien]: [Franz Salmhofer], [1938].

Folio. Publisher's original light green printed wrappers. 1f. (title), [i] (facsimile autograph dedication to the composer's wife), [i] (cast list and copyright notice), 213, [i] (blank) pp.

Boldly inscribed to the distinguished Moravian soprano Maria Jeritza (1887-1982): "Der unübertroffenen, großen, einzigartigen Künsterlin: Maria Jeritza für ihre großen Verdienste um die Wiener Staatsoper. Franz Salmhofer Zum 29 Mai 1950" at lower portion of title.

Wrappers slightly worn, faded, and soiled. Occasional light wear to outer corners and blank margins, not affecting music. A clean, very attractive copy overall.

First Edition. Scarce. OCLC no. 27239830 (2 copies only in the U.S., at Harvard and the Free Library of Philadelphia).

Iwan Tarassenko, to Salmhofer's own libretto, was first performed in Vienna at the Staatsoper on March 9, 1938.

"A pupil of Franz Schreker and Franz Schmidt, [Salmhofer] was musical director and composer at Vienna’s Burgtheater for many years and subsequently director of the Staatsoper and the Volksoper (1945–63). With a conception of music that took Romanticism as its starting point, he was regarded by many at the end of the 1920s as progressive, but not to an extent that would have endangered performances of his works in the 1930s and 40s or that would have forced him to emigrate. Among the most widely performed of contemporary composers, he became known primarily through his operas; Iwan Tarassenko (1938) demonstrates the humanistic ideals of the ‘good man’, and both the ballet Österreichische Bauernhochzeit (1933) and the opera Das Werbekleid (1943) feature folk elements. His honours include the Austrian State Prize (1937) and the prize of the City of Vienna (1960)." Sigrid Wiesmann in Grove Music Online.

Item #26095

Price: $185.00  other currencies