Lehár Ferenc és az operett marxista megközelítésének „fonákságai”
Franz Lehár and the „Contradictions” of a Marxist Approach to Operetta

Summary/Abstract: Following the import of Soviet musical plays and Socialist attempts at creating contemporary Hungarian ones, the “new cult of classical operetta” started with The Count of Luxembourg at the Budapest Operetta Theatre after its nationalization. How was it possible in 1952, a year of the Rákosi regime which presented the inhabitants with a serious challenge in all respects, when Franz Lehár’s and Emmerich Kálmán’s works had been discredited for years? What transformation of the plot, the characters and the music did it require? What interpretation of the story? What change in acting styles from the old stars of operetta? How could an adaptation whose popularity has remained undiminished for almost seventy years be born there and then? My essay seeks answers to these questions, examining the relationship between communist dictatorship and playing operettas through the case study of a legendary production.

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