Operetta premieres at the Royal Hungarian Opera House between 1888 and 1891 : Gustav Mahler’s programme policy

Gustav Mahler, the Austrian conductor and composer, was the artistic director of the Royal Hungarian Opera House from 1888 to 1891. In his programme policy he paid particular attention to the staging of song plays, especially those by Jacques Offenbach, in addition to opera and ballet. During his Budapest tenure, however, of the planned operettas, only Eljegyzés lámpafénynél (Le mariage aux lanternes – The Wedding by Lantern-Light) was performed, while Sinan basa (Sinan Pasha) and A víg cimborák (The Merry Chums) were only performed at charity nights. The aim of this paper is to explore the reception history of these three compositions and how they fit into Mahler’s artistic vision and the repertoire of the Opera House.