''Die keusche Susanne'' (''Chaste Susanne'') is an operetta in three acts by

Jean Gilbert Jean Gilbert (11 February 1879 – 20 December 1942), born Max Winterfeld, was a German operetta composer and conductor. Life and career Gilbert was born in Hamburg into a family of musicians; his ancestors were cantors of the Jewish commun ...

. The German libretto was by Georg Okonkowski, based on the 1906 play ''Le fils à papa'' by

Antony Mars Antony Mars (22 October 1861 – 17 February 1915) was a French playwright Biography After he studied at a high school in Marseille, Antony March became a lawyer's clerk then an employee at the Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est. En 1882, he ...

and

Maurice Desvallières Ernest George Maurice Lefebvre-Desvallières (3 October 1857 – 23 March 1926) was a 19th–20th-century French playwright. Maurice was the brother of George Desvallières, son of Emile Lefebvre Desvallières and Marie Legouvé (daughter and gr ...

. Jean Gilbert's son, Robert Gilbert prepared a revised version in 1953. The title alludes to the biblical story of

Susanna and the Elders Susanna (; : "lily"), also called Susanna and the Elders, is a narrative included in the Book of Daniel (as chapter 13) by the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It is one of the additions to Daniel, plac ...

Performance history

It was first performed at the Wilhelm-Theater in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

on 26 February 1910. It was the composer's greatest success, enabling him to move to Berlin to become conductor of the Thalia-Theater. Adapted into English, by

Frederick Fenn Frederick Fenn (6 November 1868 – 2 January 1924) was an English playwright, journalist and drama critic. He was the librettist for one of the last Savoy Operas, ''A Welsh Sunset'' (1908), and had his greatest success with the musical comedy ' ...

and

Arthur Wimperis Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

, it was produced in London in 1912 as ''

The Girl in the Taxi ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speak ...

''. Adapted back into French by Mars and Desvallières, it was produced in Paris and then Lyon in 1913 as ''La chaste Suzanne''. It was also successful in South America in Italian (''La casta Susana'') and in Spanish (''La chasta Suzanna''). Gilbert conducted the work there two decades later when he was forced to leave Germany and move to Argentina. In Brazil, the operetta was produced as ''Susana'' in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

in 1970. In France the work has continued to be produced into the twenty-first century (for instance in Calais in January 2004), and in 2017 a 1962 French radio performance was released in the form of digital downloads.

Roles

Eriksson, Allum and Holm in Kyska Susanna (1911 postcard)

Time and place: Berlin, about 1900

Instrumentation

The work is scored for an orchestra consisting of 2 flutes, 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

s, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s, 3

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...

s, 3

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrat ...

s, 1

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

, 1

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five- octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ...

, 1 harp, percussion and strings.''

Films

A silent film version '' Chaste Susanne'' was made in 1926 by

Richard Eichberg Richard Eichberg (27 October 1888 – 8 May 1952) was a German film director and producer. He directed 87 films between 1915 and 1949. He also produced 77 films between 1915 and 1950. He was born in Berlin, Germany and died in Munich, Germa ...

, starring

Lilian Harvey Lilian Harvey (born Helene Lilian Muriel Pape; 19 January 1906 – 27 July 1968) was an Anglo-German actress and singer, long based in Germany, where she is best known for her role as Christel Weinzinger in Erik Charell's 1931 film ''Der Kongre ...

Willy Fritsch Willy Fritsch (27 January 1901 – 13 July 1973) was a German theater and film actor, a popular leading man and character actor from the silent-film era to the early 1960s. Biography Early life He was born Wilhelm Egon Fritz Fritsch, the only s ...

, Ruth Weyher, and Hans Wassmann. Novafilm Fernsehproduktion also made a version for television in 1972 directed by

Thomas Engel Thomas Carl Engel (19 November 1927 – 6 December 1979) was a New Zealand rower who won a silver medal at the 1950 British Empire Games. Biography Born in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn on 19 November 1927, Engel was the son of Ernest Car ...

with

Maria Schell Maria Margarethe Anna Schell (15 January 1926 – 26 April 2005) was an Austrian-Swiss actress. She was one of the leading stars of German cinema in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1954, she was awarded the Cannes Best Actress Award for her performance ...

as Susanne. A French-Spanish film production of the Spanish version ''La casta Susana'' (French: ''La chaste Suzanne'') was made in 1963 by

Luis César Amadori Luis César Amadori (28 May 1902 in Pescara, Abruzzi, Italy – 5 June 1977 in Buenos Aires) was an Italian - Argentine film director and screenwriter and one of the most influential directors in the Cinema of Argentina of the classic era. He ...

with

Marujita Díaz María del Dulce Nombre Díaz Ruiz (27 April 1932 – 23 June 2015) better known as Marujita Díaz was a Spanish singer and actress. She was born in Seville, Spain. Díaz was known for presenting the very popular show '' Música y estrellas' ...

, Carlos Estrada,

Noël Roquevert Noël Roquevert (born Noël Louis Raymond Bénévent; 18 December 1892 – 6 November 1973) was a French stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1932 and 1972. Roquevert was born in Doué-la-Fontaine and was married ...

and Chonette Laurent. 19 years before that, an Argentine film production of the same Spanish version was made in 1944 with

Mirtha Legrand Rosa María Juana Martínez Suárez (born 23 February 1927), known by her stage name Mirtha Legrand (″Legrand″ being a portmanteau for the French , "the great") is an Argentine actress and television presenter. With an 80-year career, Legran ...

as Susana. The movie was directed by

Benito Perojo Benito Perojo González (Madrid, 14 June 1894 – Madrid, 11 November 1974) was a successful Spanish film director and film producer. Biography Son of José Perojo Figueras (1850–1908), a journalist and politician of Cuban origin, by his ...

and was aired in the early 90s by the Univision Cable Network in the USA.

References

External links

*
''Die keusche Susanna''
Felix Bloch Erben site, accessed 8 January 2010 * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keusche Susanne, Die Operas by Jean Gilbert German-language operettas 1910 operas Operas Operas based on plays Operas adapted into films