Poor Vienna

To all who feel pleasantly dreamy at the mere mention of An der Schonen Blauen Donau, to lovers of the bustled, candlelit atmosphere of Die Fledermaus and the sprightly, stagily Hungarian Gypsy Baron, there was sadness in the news last week that the Johann-Strauss-Theater in Vienna had gone bankrupt. Not because of any association with Strauss and his works (the theatre was built in 1908) was it to be regretted, but its passing marked another step in the decline of Vienna's once-renowned product, the operetta. Here had been given the premieres of most of the works of Franz Lehar. Now Vienna is poverty-ridden. The Tonfilm offers potent competition with the ordinary run of state theatres, and many composers--like Oskar Straus (The Waltz Dream)-- have gone over to the talkies. Bustling Berlin can make money with Lehar and Strauss: but Berlin has its Max Reinhardt who, in mounting Die Fledermaus, can give his singers real champagne to drink as they sing "Hoch! Champagner, Konig aller Weine!" To cheer up depressed Vienna some 2.000 Rotarians & wives arrived last week for the 22nd Annual Convention of Rotary International. About 50 of the visitors pranced about the capital in green Tyrolese kneepants, short jackets, feather-peaked hats. Composer Lehar, who still resides in Vienna, is the conductor-mem-ber of Vienna's Rotary Club, rehearsed the two operettas The Merry Widow and The Land of Smiles to entertain his fellow Rotarians during their visit. Most complex item of Rotarian business to be settled: whereas each Rotary club admits only one representative of each profession; and whereas in India and the Malay Peninsula the British lawyer and native lawyer practice in different courts; shall their practices be designated as distinct professions, a member of each admitted?

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