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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 1-25 of 136 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor B-5021 10-in. 1/14/1908 The dream waltz Victor Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Victor B-5067 10-in. 2/11/1908 Piccolo Frank C. Stanley ; Elise Stevenson Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-6078 10-in. 4/2/1908 A waltz dream : Selection Victor Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Victor B-6094 10-in. 4/10/1908 Kiss duet Harry Macdonough ; Elise Stevenson Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-8617 10-in. 2/10/1910 My hero Lucy Isabelle Marsh Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-8635 10-in. 2/16/1910 A chocolate soldier : Waltzes Arthur Pryor's Band Band composer  
Victor B-8650 10-in. 2/21/1910 My hero Elizabeth Wheeler Female vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-8705 12-in. 3/8/1910 Gems from A chocolate soldier Victor Light Opera Company Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-9630 10-in. 11/8/1910 My hero Geraldine Farrar Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-9631 10-in. 11/8/1910 My hero Geraldine Farrar Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-9790 10-in. 1/12/1911 My hero waltz Guido Gialdini Whistling solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-10113 12-in. 3/31/1911 Chocolate soldier : Selection Vessella's Italian Band Band composer  
Victor C-12456 12-in. 10/3/1912 Non sai mia bella Marcella Sembrich Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-18803 10-in. 12/1/1916 Piccolo, piccolo tsin-tsin-tsin Ellen Dalossy ; Julius Salay [i.e., Gyula Szalay] Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-25420 10-in. 6/1/1921 The last waltz Hackel-Bergè Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor B-26356 10-in. 5/15/1922 E Katerina ston stratona Tetos Demetriades (Τετος Δημητριαδης) Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-30388 10-in. 7/16/1924 Chocolate soldier : Waltzes The Troubadours Jazz/dance band composer  
Victor CVE-37181 12-in. 12/27/1926 Waltz dream International Concert Orchestra ; Nathaniel Shilkret Orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-53019 10-in. 4/17/1931 Alejo el heroico Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Mixed vocal quintet, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-53020 10-in. 4/17/1931 Persecución Margarita Cueto ; Héctor de Lara ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra and male vocal trio composer  
Victor BRC-53021 10-in. 4/17/1931 Dúo y final Conchita Bañuls de Álvarez ; José Moriche ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-53084 10-in. 5/8/1931 Flirteo Margarita Cueto ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Juan Pulido ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor BRC-53085 10-in. 5/8/1931 Fatuidad Margarita Cueto ; José Moriche ; Orquesta Internacional de Concierto ; Eduardo Vigil y Robles Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-53425 12-in. 5/22/1929 "My hero" medley International Novelty Orchestra ; Nathaniel Shilkret Orchestra composer  
Victor BAVE-66605 10-in. winter 1932 Una hora más de amor Orquesta Adolfo Carabelli Instrumental ensemble composer  
(Results 1-25 of 136 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Straus, Oscar," accessed March 19, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

Straus, Oscar. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102999.

"Straus, Oscar." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 March 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

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

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