LET'S FORGET THE WORLD

Operetta has always been escapism, a flight from everyday life into another world, a dream world. But what happens when this everyday life can no longer be ignored? What if the events in the world are so terrible that they cannot be forgotten? In the first months of 1938, current political life intrudes into the Volksoper during the rehearsals for the operetta "Greetings and Kisses from the Wachau." What do intolerance, discrimination, and fascism do to the employees of the Volksoper?

Political discussions and accusations undermine collaboration. Throughout the rehearsals, the Nazi takeover brings significant changes to the Volksoper: dismissals occur at all levels of the organization, affecting opera singers, conductors, orchestra musicians, and librettists. People are persecuted because of their Jewish roots or political beliefs. A captivating look into the mirror of the past can also mean confronting a painful period in the history of the Volksoper. We do not want to shy away from this.

The ensemble of today plays the ensemble of yesterday.

In "Let Us Forget the World," director Theu Boermans brings the beautiful, cheerful entertainment of the Beneš operetta back to the Volksoper stage, juxtaposing it with the cold political reality of the Nazi era. Conductor Keren Kagarlitsky reconstructed the score of "Greetings and Kisses from the Wachau" by Jara Beneš from the little material that has survived.