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 76-100 of 136 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | 75210 | 12-in. | 11/15/1922 | Magic waltz refrain | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75211 | 12-in. | 11/15/1922 | When life and love are calling | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75212 | 12-in. | 11/15/1922 | Love the minstrel | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75213 | 12-in. | 11/15/1922 | The last waltz | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75225 | 12-in. | 11/17/1922 | Red roses | Hubert Bath ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75226 | 12-in. | 11/17/1922 | Man is master of his fate | Hubert Bath ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75228 | 12-in. | 11/24/1922 | The mirror song | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra | Female vocal solo, with chorus and orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 75229 | 12-in. | 11/24/1922 | Just for a while | Hubert Bath ; José Collins ; Gaiety Theatre Orchestra ; Kingsley Lark | Vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | HCO534 | 10-in. | approximately 1941 | Forgive | Robert Armbruster ; Nelson Eddy ; Risë Stevens | Vocal duet (mezzo-soprano and baritone), with chorus and orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | HCO535 | 10-in. | approximately 1941 | The chocolate soldier | Robert Armbruster ; Nelson Eddy ; Risë Stevens | Vocal duet (mezzo-soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | HCO536 | 10-in. | approximately 1941 | Ti-ra-la-la | Robert Armbruster ; Risë Stevens | Mezzo-soprano vocal solo, with female chorus and orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | HCO537 | 10-in. | approximately 1941 | Sympathy | Robert Armbruster ; Nelson Eddy ; Risë Stevens | Vocal duet (mezzo-soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | HCO541 | 10-in. | approximately 1941 | My hero | Robert Armbruster ; Nelson Eddy ; Risë Stevens | Vocal duet (mezzo-soprano and baritone), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W105762 | 10-in. | approximately August 1925 | Der letzte Walzer | George Gut | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W106473 | 10-in. | March 1926 | Rêve de valse | J. Fournier de Belleval | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W704096 | 10-in. | approximately September 1931 | Encanto de un vals : Vals | Julián Mario Oliver | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
OKeh | o-8172 | 10-in. | ca. May 1921 | The last waltz | American Odeon Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
OKeh | S-70022 | 10-in. | July 1921 | The last waltz | Natzy's Biltmore Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | 6143 | 10-in. | approximately July 1921 | Last waltz | Carl Fenton’s Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | X12133-X12134 | 12-in. | 12/18/1923 | The chocolate soldier | Brunswick Light Opera Company | Mixed vocal chorus, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | E35248 | 10-in. | 11/8/1930 | It is destiny | Regent Club Orchestra | Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo | composer | |
Brunswick | E20658-E20659 | 10-in. | 11/5/1926 | Viens, mon héro | Louis Chartier | Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | PB30205 | 10-in. | July 1929 | La dernière valse | Louis Chartier | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Brunswick | DB58 | 10-in. | 9/25/1928 | The chocolate soldier : Selection | E. Cruft ; Duophone Light Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 556 | Not documented | approximately Feb. 1911 | Letter song | Constance Drever | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Straus, Oscar," accessed May 11, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.
Straus, Oscar. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 11, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.
"Straus, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 11 May 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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