Talk:Sigmund Romberg
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The classification of Sigmund Romberg as a Jewish composer is mistakable. He didn't write Klezmer music. His parents had been German-speaking assimilated Jews in the Austro-Hungarian provincial town Großkirchen/Nagykanizsa, indeed. But he left his home town without regret for the lively Vienna as a teenager. The operettas of Franz Léhar, Robert Stolz and Emmerich Kálmán were his real homeland there. And he lived for 42 years in the USA afterwards. He was a typical American citizen of the early 20th century: an immigrant and selfmade man. All artistic positions for young composers had been occupied by established musicians in Europe in 1909. It's safe to say that Romberg was glad to be in New York and that he was proud to be an American citizen. Sigmund Romberg was an American composer in the first place. His music was an exciting mixture of Vienna waltz and Tin Pan Alley hits. Unique! His operettas had almost consistently European plots but he minced the whole European music tradition through the American meat grinder thoroughly. The result was remarkable. Very American. --Bogart99 17:29, 28 March 2006 (UTC)
It is an error to call The Whirl of the World an "operetta." Romberg started on Broadway as a composer of musical comedies, not operettas, and The Whirl of the World was a musical comedy with a revueish feel--lots of specialty bits and very little plot. This should be changed. Fred Lane 01:00, 14 December 2006 (UTC)
- Yes, The Whirl of the World, debut performance at Winter Garden Theatre on January 10, 1914, was no operetta but a a Broadway revue. --Bogart99 16:32, 9 March 2007 (UTC)
