Franz von Suppe
By the 1860s, the operettas of French composer Jacques Offenbach were becoming ppopular with the Viennese audience. Franz von Suppé, already established in the Austrian Imperial capital as an operetta composer and conductor, found the new competition stimulating enough to produce a new two-act operetta based upon the classic tale of the sculptor Pygmalion falling in love with his statue of Galathée. The first performance was given in Berlin on June 30, 1863 with the Vienna premiere at the Carltheater on September 9, 1865. Die schöne Galathée proved to be one of the composer’s most successful, with performances in London and New York. Though the operetta is largely forgotten now, Suppé’s brilliant overture has never left the concert repertoire. First issued in 2006 by the now defunct publisher E.F. Kalmus, Dr. McAlister’s superb edition is now exclusively available from Serenissima Music in all formats, the present study score, the full score and orchestral parts.
