Author: Yates, W. E.

Source: Austrian Studies, Volume 16, Number 1, 1 December 2008 , pp. 51-68(18)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

Abstract:

This article presents an overview of the theatrical life in late-nineteenth-century Vienna, focusing on selected illustrative examples: two commercial theatres, the Carltheater, which was mainly an operetta theatre, and the Wiener Stadttheater, founded in 1872 and first directed by Heinrich Laube; two prominent individual figures symptomatic of the characteristic mood of transition, the dialect playwright Ludwig Anzengruber, the impact of whose realist work was diminished by the public taste for operetta, and the actor Friedrich Mitterwurzer, later recognized as having been a precursor of Josef Kainz; and finally the international theatre exhibition of 1892, which stimulated the interest of the emerging young Modernist dramatists.

German
Das Theaterleben im Wien des späten 19. Jahrhunderts wird hier anhand ausgewählter Beispiele veranschaulicht: zwei kommerzielle Theater, das Carltheater, zu dieser Zeit ein Operettentheater, und das 1872 gegründete und unter der Direktion von Heinrich Laube eröffnete Wiener Stadttheater; zwei repräsentative Einzelfiguren, der Volksdramatiker Ludwig Anzengruber, dessen realistische Stücke mit dem Aufstieg der Operette konkurrieren mussten und sich nur teilweise durchsetzen konnten, und der von einem Kritiker als `Übergangsschauspieler' bezeichnete Friedrich Mitterwurzer, der nach seinem Tod als Vorgänger von Josef Kainz angesehen wurde; und schließlich die internationale Theaterausstellung von 1892, die auf die jungen Dramatiker der Wiener Moderne anregend wirkte.

Keywords: Carltheater; Wiener Stadttheater; Heinrich Laube; transition; Ludwig Anzengruber; operetta; Friedrich Mitterwurzer; theatre exhibition; 1892; Modernist; Carltheater; Heinrich Laube; Wiener Stadttheater; Ludwig Anzengruber; Operette; Übergangsschauspieler; Friedrich Mitterwurzer; Theaterausstellung; 1892; Moderne

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: University of Exeter

Publication date: 2008-12-01

More about this publication?

• Austrian Studies is an annual journal reflecting sustained interest in the distinctive cultural traditions of the Habsburg Empire and the Austrian Republic. By publishing a wide range of articles in English, together with a selection of book reviews, it aims to make recent research accessible to a broadly based international readership.
  
  The focus is on Austrian culture from 1750 to the present. Literature is considered in relation to psychology, philosophy, political theory, music, theatre, film, and the visual arts. 'Austrian' includes German-language culture of former areas of the Habsburg Empire, such as Prague and the Bukovina, as well as the work of people of Austrian origin living abroad. Austrian interactions with other linguistic and ethnic groups -- the Jewish communities of Austria-Hungary, for example -- are also taken into account.
  
  Each volume of Austrian Studies has a coherent but broadly conceived theme, and reviews of the most important recent publications in the field of Austrian studies. Each volume also includes a number of substantial review essays devoted either to keeping readers up to date with major cultural debates and events, or to areas of scholarship in which activity has been particularly intense.

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