At the beginning of the 20th century, Europe is living in peace and prosperity. The “Belle Époque” is an outgrowth of previous important historical events and developments. The networks that are created and which evolve funnel both people and their products, tangible and intangible. It is within this multi-layered world that sound recording and sound reproduction is invented. Early record labels send mobile crews literally all over the world to record local musicians. The range of the repertoire is endless. Cosmopolitanism in large urban centers favors polystylisms and polymorphisms. Colonialism, revolutions, conflicts, refugee flows; the theater, cinema, radio, photography, orchestras’ tours, but also circulations in all kinds of commercial channels in a world that evolves dynamically and anisotropically, form a complex network of “centers” and “peripheries” in alternating roles setting musical idioms in motion, both literally and figuratively. The network in which the Greek-speaking urban popular song participates, constantly conversing with its co-tenants, is magnificent. Discography has already provided important tools in understanding the relationships that developed between “national” repertoires. The result of this ongoing research is “Cosmopolitanism in Greek Historical Discography”.

Austria’s geographical position naturally renders the country the center of European developments, but also an important sort of conduit for the diffusion of tangible and intangible products from all and towards all directions. However, it is not a popular part of the relevant historiographical research as far as the relations between the Greek-speaking and the rest of the world. Not to mention that that within the musicological field, research is almost completely absent. However, geography often speaks for itself: The Habsburg Empire (Austro-Hungarian Empire after the Compromise of 1867) bordered the Ottoman Empire to the south. Both claimed territories of the later Yugoslavia, and especially those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, on the one hand, accommodated a notable Muslim population, and, on the other hand, communicated directly with the historical region of Macedonia and the Greek-speaking population that lived there. Vienna was a unique melting pot of cultures; the arts, dominated by music, were experiencing an unprecedented boom. A particular theatrical genre, which developed in various forms throughout Europe, was at the heart of Viennese creation: it was the Volkstheater (the folk theater), which was part of a long tradition of comical performing arts, with music playing a dominant role. According to the relevant discourse, after 1850 this style is transformed in the Viennese operetta, which had an unprecedented dynamic in terms of production of new works. Soon, discography would enter this network, and together with the already vibrant reality of the music publishing houses, would contribute to the mass diffusion of the Viennese operetta both in Europe and America. The leading element of these works was, among other things, the waltz, a trademark of the Austrian capital, as well as its main exported cultural product all over the world. The role played by the Strauss family was a catalyst in this development. These trends reached and were adopted and adapted by the Greek-speaking world, which incorporated them into its own conditions. In any case, the circulation of musics is already a reality before the 20th century with theatrical and musical performances tours , but also with the networks of music publishing houses. Discography is not only embedded in this context, but also plays a key role in its transformation. It should also be noted that, in various cases, often due to the great international success of the songs, the resulting network is extremely complex and does not only concern Greek-Austrian relations.

This recording is an adaptation with Greek lyrics of the Lori - Hubert duet "Hätt' ich doch gehaltet dem Großpapa", from the second act of the three-act operetta "Die Faschingsfee" (French: La Fée de carnaval, English: Halloween fairy), set to music by Emmerich Kálmán and German libretto by Alfred Maria Willner and Rudolf Österreicher. The three-act operetta premiered at the Johann Strauss Theater, in Vienna, on September 21, 1917.

It is the revised German version of the composer's Hungarian operetta "Zsuzsi kissasszony", with a libretto by Martos - M. Bródy, which premiered at the Vig Theater, in Budapest, on February 21, 1915.

Between the two operettas, the one of 1915 and of 1917, another American version was staged in 1916. It was the operetta entitled "Miss Springtime", which premiered in the USA, at the New Amsterdam Theater, in New York, on September 25, 1916, delivering 224 performances. The English libretto, based on the Hungarian version, was written by Guy Bolton and Herbert Reynolds, and four songs composed by Jerome Kern were also included.

One of the earliest recordings of the duet, perhaps the first, took place in Berlin, in 1918, by Molly Wessely and Eugen Rex, for the record label Gramophone (19190 l - 3-44156), under the title "Loreley-Duett".

The German film of the same title, "Die Faschingsfee", which was screened in Munich cinemas on February 14, 1931, was also based on the operetta.

The operetta was staged in the Greek language at the Kyvelis Theater, in Smyrna (Izmir), on February 20 and 21, 1922, by the Elli Afentaki troupe, at the Smyrna Theater on April 7 of the same year by an unknown troupe (see Giavris, 2018: 61), as well as at the Neon Theater (formerly Scating), in Constantinople (Istanbul), by the Alexandra Kallinea troupe (partnership with Dimitrios Veronis), adapted by Sylvios - Epitheoritos, probably during the second decade of the 20th century.

According to the data collected so far, this is the only recording of the song in Greek historical discography.

Research and text: Leonardos Kounadis and Nikos Ordoulidis