Bruder Liederlich
Event Information
Venue(s):
New-Yorker Stadt-Theater [37-39 Bowery - pre-Sept 1864]
Conductor(s):
Franz [vn, cond. and opera director] Herwig
Event Type:
Play With Music
Record Information
Status:
Published
Last Updated:
2 August 2013
Performance Date(s) and Time(s)
13 Jan 1864, Evening14 Jan 1864, Evening
Program Details
Benefit for Franz Herwig.
Franz Herwig was a violinist in the NY Philharmonic from 1853-1893. See Norman Schweikert, NY Phil Archive.
Franz Herwig was a violinist in the NY Philharmonic from 1853-1893. See Norman Schweikert, NY Phil Archive.
Performers and/or Works Performed
Citations
2)
Pohl’s newest Gesangsposse.
3)
“As a benefit for Mr. Herwig, the tireless director of the Stadttheater’s orchestra, E. Pohl’s newest farce with singing, ‘Bruder Liederlich,’ will be presented this evening. Music for the play is by Conradi, the beloved composer of couplets. In Germany, the play received much applause; at the Wallner Theater in Berlin, it was presented almost 60 nights continuously.”
5)
“Stadttheater. Tonight, Pohl’s burlesque with singing will be performed for the second time.”
6)
The review does not mention music.
“‘Bruder Liederlich,’which was presented yesterday for the second time, is one of these formless farces based on the so-called Volksstück model that managed a few years ago to take hold in almost all German theaters and also here. This kind of play does not touch the heart or soul, at best, the eye, through beautiful decorations, and incidentally, the laugh muscles. In these plays similar couplets, choruses and quodlibets are always to be found, and, in most cases, the whole play is a copy.
The plot of ‘Bruder Liederlich’ can be summed up in a few words: a very slovenly, dissolute brother in the first act has, by the last act, become orderly and respectable – and married. The moral of the story is so easy to grasp that one already smells it by the end of the first act. One cannot really speak of the value of such a piece, because there isn’t any.
The sets for ‘Bruder Liederlich’ are beautiful: the ice-skating trail in the second act and the lumber yard in the third are nice decorations. About the production itself, there was little to criticize.”