Viennese Classic#

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf: Gesundheit Herr Nachbar... Arie from Hokus Pokus#

Büste Dittersdorfs
© Staatsoper Österreichischer Bundestheaterverband, Wien (Foto: Helmut Schubert, Graz)

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739 Vienna - 1799 Neuhof) was a very prolific composer. He wrote works for the German-language Nationalsingspiel, which Emperor Joseph II encouraged to raise the quality of operas in German. Even though these works couldn't really compete with Italian opera, at least the ice was broken. The first great masterpiece was definitely W. A. Mozart's Entfuehrung aus dem Serail (Abduction from the Seraglio). Dittersdorf's fame lived on into the 19th c as evidenced by the decorations in the new Opera House on the Ringstrasse, where his bust is on equal standing with those of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Weber, Rossini, etc. (Picture).

Musical example: the aria Gesundheit Herr Nachbar, mein Glaeschen ist leer (To your health, O neighbor, my glass is empty!) from the comic opera Hokus Pokus, which Dittersdorf wrote for Vienna in 1790. (E. Stadler)

Sound Clip#