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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.

Birth and Death Data: Born April 6, 1870 (Vienna), Died January 11, 1954 (Bad Ischl)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1904 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-50 of 136 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BAVE-66606 10-in. Winter 1932 Toujours l'amour Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli Instrumental ensemble composer  
Victor BVE-67493 10-in. 3/6/1931 Life is a dream Lawrence Tibbett Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-67770 10-in. 1/7/1931 My hero Jean Tennyson Soprano vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor PBVE-68352 10-in. 4/24/1932 Coeur contre coeur Nathaniel Finston ; Jeanette MacDonald Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor PBVE-68353 10-in. 4/24/1932 We will always be sweethearts Nathaniel Finston ; Jeanette MacDonald Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-68827 10-in. 3/27/1931 Canción de la carta Margarita Cueto ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-68828 10-in. 3/27/1931 Mi héroe Margarita Cueto ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-68878 10-in. 4/7/1931 El soldado de chocolate : Finale acto 2 [Parte 1] Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Orchestra, with mixed chorus composer  
Victor BRC-68879 10-in. 4/7/1931 El soldado de chocolate : Finale acto 2 [Parte 2] Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Orchestra, with mixed chorus composer  
Victor BRC-68887 10-in. 4/10/1931 El soldado de chocolate : Introducción Conchita Bañuls de Álvarez ; Margarita Cueto ; S. Espinal ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Orchestra, with female vocal solos and male vocal trio composer  
Victor BRC-68888 10-in. 4/10/1931 Simpatia Margarita Cueto ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Juan Pulido ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-68889 10-in. 4/10/1931 Admiración Conchita Bañuls de Álvarez ; Margarita Cueto ; S. Espinal ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female vocal trio, with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-71898 10-in. 2/24/1932 Oh! That Mitzi Maurice Chevalier Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-71899 10-in. 2/24/1932 Oh! That Mitzi Maurice Chevalier Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-72276 10-in. 4/13/1932 We will always be sweethearts Jack Denny ; June Pursell ; Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo composer  
Victor BRC-72278 10-in. 4/13/1932 Siempre hemos de querernos Jack Denny ; Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor BS-75599 10-in. 4/3/1933 Waltz song Richard Crooks Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor H-149 10-in. 2/7/1910 Encanto de un vals : Dúo Ramón Alarcón ; Emilio Sagi-Barba Vocal duet (tenor and baritone), with orchestra composer  
Victor H-150 10-in. 2/7/1911 Canción militar 'Nike' Emilio Sagi-Barba Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor R-735 10-in. 3/29/1910 Sogno d'un valzer Lia Bianca Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BS-01136 10-in. 8/31/1936 A waltz dream Anthony Galla-Rini Piano-accordion solo composer  
Victor PBS-09649 10-in. 8/20/1937 Make a wish Bobby Breen Boy soprano vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Victor PBS-09650 10-in. 8/20/1937 Music in my heart Bobby Breen Boy soprano vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  
Victor BS-011670 10-in. 8/6/1937 Make a wish Stuart Allen ; Richard Himber ; Ritz-Carlton Hotel Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo composer  
Victor BS-071590 10-in. 10/28/1941 My hero Dick Leibert Organ solo composer  
(Results 26-50 of 136 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Straus, Oscar," accessed March 29, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

Straus, Oscar. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 29, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

"Straus, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 29 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999

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