Oscar Straus
Oscar Nathan Straus (6 March 1870 – 11 January 1954) was a Viennese composer of operettas, film scores, and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works. His original name was actually Strauss, but for professional purposes he deliberately omitted the final 's'. He wished not to be associated with the musical Strauss family of Vienna. However, he did follow the advice of Johann Strauss II in 1898 about abandoning the prospective lure of writing waltzes for the more lucrative business of writing for the theatre. The son of a Jewish family, he studied music in Berlin under Max Bruch, and became an orchestral conductor, working at the Überbrettl cabaret. He went back to Vienna and began writing operettas, becoming a serious rival to Franz Lehár. When Lehár's popular The Merry Widow premiered in 1905, Straus was said to have remarked "Das kann ich auch!" (I can also do that!). In 1939, following the Nazi Anschluss, he fled to Paris, where he received the honour of a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, and then to Hollywood. After the war, he returned to Europe, and settled at Bad Ischl, where he died. His grave is in the Bad Ischl Friedhof. Straus' best-known works are Ein Walzertraum (A Waltz Dream), and The Chocolate Soldier (Der tapfere Soldat). The waltz arrangement from the former is probably his most enduring orchestral work. Among his most famous works is the theme from the 1950 film La Ronde. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 137 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | B-5021 | 10-in. | 1/14/1908 | The dream waltz | Victor Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-5067 | 10-in. | 2/11/1908 | Piccolo | Frank C. Stanley ; Elise Stevenson | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-6078 | 10-in. | 4/2/1908 | A waltz dream : Selection | Victor Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-6094 | 10-in. | 4/10/1908 | Kiss duet | Harry Macdonough ; Elise Stevenson | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-8617 | 10-in. | 2/10/1910 | My hero | Lucy Isabelle Marsh | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-8635 | 10-in. | 2/16/1910 | A chocolate soldier : Waltzes | Arthur Pryor's Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | B-8650 | 10-in. | 2/21/1910 | My hero | Elizabeth Wheeler | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-8705 | 12-in. | 3/8/1910 | Gems from A chocolate soldier | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-9630 | 10-in. | 11/8/1910 | My hero | Geraldine Farrar | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-9631 | 10-in. | 11/8/1910 | My hero | Geraldine Farrar | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-9790 | 10-in. | 1/12/1911 | My hero waltz | Guido Gialdini | Whistling solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-10113 | 12-in. | 3/31/1911 | Chocolate soldier : Selection | Vessella's Italian Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-12456 | 12-in. | 10/3/1912 | Non sai mia bella | Marcella Sembrich | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-18803 | 10-in. | 12/1/1916 | Piccolo, piccolo tsin-tsin-tsin | Ellen Dalossy ; Julius Salay [i.e., Gyula Szalay] | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-25420 | 10-in. | 6/1/1921 | The last waltz | Hackel-Bergè Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | B-26356 | 10-in. | 5/15/1922 | E Katerina ston stratona | Tetos Demetriades (Τετος Δημητριαδης) | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-30388 | 10-in. | 7/16/1924 | Chocolate soldier : Waltzes | The Troubadours | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Victor | CVE-37181 | 12-in. | 12/27/1926 | Waltz dream | International Concert Orchestra ; Nathaniel Shilkret | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BRC-53019 | 10-in. | 4/17/1931 | Alejo el heroico | Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles | Mixed vocal quintet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BRC-53020 | 10-in. | 4/17/1931 | Persecución | Margarita Cueto ; Héctor de Lara ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra and male vocal trio | composer | |
Victor | BRC-53021 | 10-in. | 4/17/1931 | Dúo y final | Conchita Bañuls de Álvarez ; José Moriche ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BRC-53084 | 10-in. | 5/8/1931 | Flirteo | Margarita Cueto ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Juan Pulido ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BRC-53085 | 10-in. | 5/8/1931 | Fatuidad | Margarita Cueto ; José Moriche ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | CVE-53425 | 12-in. | 5/22/1929 | "My hero" medley | International Novelty Orchestra ; Nathaniel Shilkret | Orchestra | composer | |
Victor | BAVE-66605 | 10-in. | winter 1932 | Una hora más de amor | Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli | Instrumental ensemble | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Straus, Oscar," accessed November 21, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.
Straus, Oscar. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 21, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.
"Straus, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 21 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Oscar Straus
Discogs: Oscar Straus
Grove: Oscar Straus
IMSLP: Oscar Straus
RISM: Oscar Straus
IMDb: Oscar Straus
Britannica: Oscar Straus
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Straus, Oscar, 1870-1954 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81003162
Wikidata: Oscar Straus - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q206667
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/71579448
MusicBrainz: Oscar Straus - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/cec7f5fe-5dee-4258-af3e-3bb1e469444b
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