Letter to Karl Redlich

Subsequent to the success of the fairy-tale opera Es war einmal (premiere: 22 January 1900 at the Court Opera Theater conducted by Gustav Mahler), in June of the same year Alexander Zemlinsky was named principal conductor of the Carltheater. As musical director of an entertainment theater, he was entrusted with the task of paying homage to the light muse. The premiere of the operetta Die verwunschene Prinzessin by Eduard Gärtner was scheduled for the beginning of 1901. Gärtner had premiered Arnold Schönberg’s Two Songs for Baritone and Piano, op. 1 in Bösendorfer Hall accompanied by Zemlinsky on 1 December 1900. In addition to the possibility that Schönberg helped with the instrumentation of Gärtner’s operetta, he was involved in rehearsals of the new work at the Carltheater, as is evidenced in a long letter to the production financier. Schönberg makes reference to issues regarding scoring, organization, and also the librettist Victor Léon (Hirschfeld), brother of the Jung-Wien and Zemlinsky librettist Leo Feld (Hirschfeld). Zemlinsky added: “If I might also give advice: exert all of your considerable influence on Mr. V Léon that without qualification he grants permission for the performance of the operetta. The performance will be splendid; I will do everything possible to contribute to that; he will never get better performers for a first performance. The operetta can and must be performed only in Vienna. […] With sincere greetings, v. Zemlinszky.”