Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

and composer of operettas.

Life

Born in Olmütz (

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the

Vienna Conservatory Vienna Conservatory may refer to: *University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university ...

before rejoining his father in Berlin. His teachers in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

were

Robert Fuchs Robert Fuchs (15 February 1847 – 19 February 1927) was an Austrian composer and music teacher. As Professor of music theory at the Vienna Conservatory, Fuchs taught many notable composers, while he was himself a highly regarded composer in h ...

and Johann Nepomuk Fuchs. In 1895 he began a new career as an operetta conductor in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, and started to compose. From 1904 onwards he devoted himself to composition. While less successful than his contemporary

Franz Lehár Franz Lehár ( ; hu, Lehár Ferenc ; 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is '' The Merry Widow'' (''Die lustige Witwe''). Life ...

, he was nevertheless capable of producing melodious and well orchestrated work. After working in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne he settled in Vienna in 1906, where he died. He is buried at the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery (german: Wiener Zentralfriedhof) is one of the largest cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known cemetery among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its ...

. His brothers and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

were also composers; both were murdered by

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. His best known operettas in the English-speaking world are '' The Dollar Princess'' and '' Madame Pompadour'', which had successful runs in London and New York and remained in the repertory in Germany and Austria throughout the 20th century. ' (1912; '' Princess Caprice'' in London) is reported to have been given an unprecedented 3,360 performances.

Stage works

Fall wrote incidental music to numerous plays, and three unsuccessful operas; he is mainly known as a composer of operettas in the Silver Age of Vienna operetta. Operas: * ''Paroli oder Frau Denise'' (1 act; 1902) * ''Irrlicht'' (1905) * ''Der goldene Vogel'' (1920) Operettas: * ''Der Rebell'' (Vienna, 1905), later reworked as ''Der liebe Augustin'' * '' The Merry Farmer'' (''Der fidele Bauer'', Mannheim, 1907) * '' Die Dollarprinzessin'' (Vienna, 1907; adapted into English as '' The Dollar Princess'' 1909) * ''

Die geschiedene Frau ''Die geschiedene Frau'' (''The Divorcée''), is an operetta in three acts by Leo Fall with a libretto by Victor Léon based on Victorien Sardou's ''Divorçons!''. Conducted by the composer, It opened to considerable success at the Carltheater ...

'' (Vienna, 1908; adapted into English as ''The Girl in the Train'' 1910) * ''Der Schrei nach der Ohrfeige'' (Vienna, 1909) * ' (Vienna, 1909) * ''Das Puppenmädel'' (Vienna, 1910) * ''Die schöne Risette'' (Vienna, 1910) * ''Die Sirene'' (Vienna, 1911; adapted into English as '' The Siren'' 1911) * ''The Eternal Waltz'' (London, 1911) * ' (Berlin, 1912) ('' Princess Caprice'') (performed 3,360 times)Long Runs Broadway, off Broadway, London, Toronto & Other Major Cities
at www.world-theatres.com * ''Die Studentengräfin'' (Berlin, 1913) * ''Der Nachtschnellzug'' (Vienna, 1913) * ''Der Frau Ministerpräsident'' (Berlin, 1914) * ''Der künstliche Mensch'' (Berlin, 1915) * ''Die Kaiserin'' (Fürstenliebe) (Berlin, 1916) * '' The Rose of Stamboul'' (Vienna, 1916) * ''Die spanische Nachtigall'' (Berlin, 1920) * ''Der heilige Ambrosius'' (Berlin, 1921) * ''Die Straßensängerin'' (Vienna, 1922) * '' Madame Pompadour'' (Berlin, 1922) * ''Der süße Kavalier'' (Berlin, 1923) * ''Jugend im Mai'' (Dresden, 1926)

References

Notes Sources *"Fall, Leo(pold)" by Andrew Lamb, in ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' is an encyclopedia of opera, considered to be one of the best general reference sources on the subject. It is the largest work on opera in English, and in its printed form, amounts to 5,448 pages in four volu ...

'', ed.

Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was an influential and prolific British musicology, musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), whi ...

(London, 1992)

External links

*
Fall's stage works
with information about librettists and theatres, musicaltheatreguide.com

musicals101.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fall, Leo 1873 births 1925 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Austrian male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Austrian male musicians Austrian Jews Austrian male classical composers Austrian opera composers Austrian Romantic composers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery Jewish classical composers Male opera composers Musicians from Olomouc University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni