Postscript to the Richard Strauss Letter

The question of why a letter from  Richard Strauss’s dated 1942 should have been attached to a programme for ‘Lohengrin’ in Vienna in 1951 appeared to be answered by their joint relevance to the opera ‘Capriccio’.

Nevertheless, it seemed worth contacting the Theater an der Wien on the off-chance that someone there could confirm this interpretation or throw further light on the matter.

An email to the theatre on 30 July 2024 was forwarded to the relevant department, and their archivist, Renate Riedel, replied a week later. She reminded me that, in the chaos following the end of World War II and the destruction of the Vienna State Opera House, the Theater an der Wien was the temporary venue for the State Opera. She explained that the Theater an der Wien was itself in a very sorry state during post-war period, presumably hinting at a scarcity of records. She suggested that I direct my enquiry to the Vienna Theatre Museum and/or the archives of the State Opera.

An email to the Theatre Museum produced an immediate reply from two archivists, Daniela Franke and Christiane Mühlegger-Henhapel. Their tentative explanation was that the Strauss letter was ‘probably’ inserted into the programme for ‘Lohengrin’ by accident because, on the previous and following evenings, there had been performances of the theatre’s new production of ‘Capriccio’ conducted by Dr Karl Böhm, the very person to whom Strauss’s letter had been addressed. Dates of the relevant performances provided by the archivists are these:

• • • Saturday 2nd June:        Strauss’s Capriccio
    • Wednesday 6th June:  Strauss’s Capriccio
    • Thursday 7th June:        Wagner’s Lohengrin; attended by the Pullein-Thompson sisters
    • Tuesday 12th June:        Strauss’s Capriccio

The archivists were also kind enough to photograph the programme and inserts for the performance of ‘Capriccio’ on 6 June that, as can be seen below, include the Strauss letter:

Explanation for the Strauss Letter being attached to the ‘Lohengrin’ programme

Accidental attachment of the Strauss letter to the ‘Lohengrin’ programme seems the most likely, but not the only possible explanation. It is also feasible that Christine, accompanied by Diana (or maybe Josephine) had attended performances of both ‘Capriccio’ (6th June) and ‘Lohengrin’ (7th June). A third possibility is that one of the sisters simply found the letter in the theatre on the 7th June and kept it as a souvenir.

Thanks

To Renate Riedel of the Theater an der Wien, and Daniela Franke and Christiane Mühlegger-Henhapel of the Theatermuseum in Vienna for their help and prompt responses to my enquiries.