I was mystified when I read that the Deutsche Oper Berlin was presenting Alfred Lortzing’s comic opera Zar und Zimmerman. Operetta at the Deutsche Oper Berlin? That stuff is for the Komische Oper or the Dresdener Landestheater! It’s a charming piece which I know from my time at the Eutiner Sommerfestspiel, an open air summer festival in northern Germany where Germans come to breathe the fresh air and enjoy their summer vacation. At least some of then get a funny look and wax poetic when they talk about Lortzing. He holds a special place in their hearts and they consider his music almost on a par with Mozart, calling him the “German Mozart”. Now I know why! This year marks the 225th anniversary of Lortzing’s birth! He composed and premiered many of his operas in Leipzig, so Oper Leipzig is having a festival this April and May to celebrate and commemorate. He was important in the development of the German Romantic tradition which included Schubert, Schumann, Weber and Beethoven to mention a few. His operas were the most frequently performed in Germany for over a hundred years Nothing to sneeze at, and in that way he is similar to Mozart, who is currently the most performed composer in German opera
theaters.