Alfred Maria Willner

Alfred Maria Willner (11 July 1859 – 27 October 1929) was an Austrian writer, philosopher, musicologist, composer and librettist.

Willner was born and died in Vienna. He began composing mostly music for the piano before making a career writing librettos for ballets, operas and operettas. One of his early operettas was Johann Strauss II’s Die Göttin der Vernunft, a commitment that Strauss regretted. Strauss was forced to complete the commission only by the threat of a lawsuit and declined to attend a performance. Later the libretto and score were legally separated, and Willner revised the libretto for Franz Lehár as Der Graf von Luxemburg.

Willner's first big success was his libretto for Leo Fall’s Die Dollarprinzessin and Willner soon became a much sought-after operetta librettist. He wrote several successful librettos for Lehár operettas, particularly in collaboration with Heinz Reichert. The two also collaborated on highly successful adaptations of music by Schubert, such as Das Dreimäderlhaus, and by Johann Strauss father and son, such as Walzer aus Wien. In addition, Willner and Reichert were the contracted librettists for Puccini's opera La rondine which was later adapted by Giuseppe Adami.

Librettos

• Das Heimchen am Herd (opera), Karl Goldmark, 1896
• Die Schneeflocke (opera), Heinrich Berté, 1896
• Der Schmetterling (operetta with Bernhard Buchbinder), Charles Weinberger, 1896
• Die Göttin der Vernunft (operetta with Buchbinder), Johann Strauss II, 1897
• Fräulein Hexe (operetta with Buchbinder), Josef Bayer, 1898
• Die Debutantin (operetta with H. von Waldberg), Alfred Zamara, 1901
• Das Baby (operetta with Waldberg), Richard Heuberger, 1902
• Die Millionenbraut (operetta with E. Limé), Berté, 1904
• Der schöne Gardist (operetta with A. Landesberg), Berté, 1907
• Der kleine Chevalier, (operetta) Berté, 1907
• Die Dollarprinzessin (operetta with Fritz Grünbaum), Leo Fall, 1907
• Ein Wintermärchen (Oper), Goldmark, 1908
• Baron Trenck (komische Operette, with R. Bodanzky), Felix Albini, 1908
• Ein Mädchen für Alles (operetta with Waldberg), Heinrich Reinhardt, 1908
• Die Paradiesvögel (operetta with J. Wilhelm), P. Silber, 1908
• Die Glücksnarr (operetta with Landesberg), Berté, 1908
• Die Sprudelfee (operetta with Wilhelm), Reinhardt, 1909
• Der Graf von Luxemburg (operetta with Bodanzky), Franz Lehár, 1909
• Zigeunerliebe (romantische Operette, with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1910
• Schneeglöckchen (operetta with Wilhelm), G. Kerker, 1910
• Das Puppenmädel (operetta with L. Stein), Fall, 1910
• Die schöne Risette (romantische Operette, with Bodanzky), Fall, 1910
• Die Sirene (operetta with Stein), Fall, 1911
• Der Eisenhammer (Opera), B. Bersa, 1911, as Oganj
• Der flotte Bob (operetta with W. Sterk), K. Stigler, 1911
• Die kleine Freundin (operetta with Stein), Straus, 1911
• Eva [Das Fabriksmädel] (operetta with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1911
• Casimirs Himmelfahrt (burleske Operette, with Bodanzky), B. Granichstaedten, 1911
• Prinzess Gretl (operetta with Bodanzky), Reinhardt, 1913
• Endlich allein(operetta with Bodanzky), Lehár, 1914
• Der Schuster von Delft (Opera, with Wilhelm), Bersa, 1914, as Postolar iz Delfta
• Der Märchenprinz (operetta with Sterk), Berté, 1914
• Der Durchgang der Venus (operetta with R. Oesterreicher), E. Eysler, 1914
• Der künstliche Mensch (operetta with Oesterreicher), Fall, 1915
• Die erste Frau (operetta with Oesterreicher), Reinhardt, 1915
• Wenn zwei sich lieben (operetta with Bodanzky), Eysler, 1915
• Das Dreimäderlhaus (Singspiel, with H. Reichert, after R. H. Bartsch: Schwammerl), Berté, 1916
• Die Faschingsfee (operetta with Oesterreicher), Kálmán, 1917
• Die schöne Saskia (operetta with Reichert), O. Nedbal, 1917
• La rondine (opera), Giacomo Puccini, 1917
• Hannerl [Dreimäderlhaus, part 2] (Singspiel, with Reichert), K. Lafite, 1918
• Wo die Lerche singt (operetta with Reichert), Lehár, 1918
• Johann Nestroy (Singspiel, with Oesterreicher), E. Reiterer, 1918
• Nimm mich mit (operetta with Waldberg), H. Dostal, 1919
• Der heilige Ambrosius (Schwank, with A. Rebner), Fall, 1921
• Nixchen (operetta with Oesterreicher), Straus, 1921
• Frasquita (operetta with Reichert), Lehár, 1922
• Libellentanz (Revue-Operette), Lehár, 1923
• Agri (operetta with Sterk), E. Steffan, 1924
• Ein Ballroman [Der Kavalier von zehn bis vier] (operetta with Oesterreicher and F. Rotter), Stolz, 1924
• Das Milliardensouper (operetta with H. Kottow), Steffan, 1925
• Der Mitternachtswalzer (operetta with Oesterreicher), Stolz, 1926
• Ade, du liebes Elternhaus [Die Lori] (Singspiel, with Reichert), O. Jascha, 1928
• Rosen aus Florida (operetta with Reichert), Korngold, after Fall, 1929
• Walzer aus Wien (Singspiel, with Reichert and Ernst Marischka), J. Bittner and Korngold, after J. Strauss II and I, 1930

Sources

• The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie (1992), ISBN 0-333-73432-7 and ISBN 1-56159-228-5
• The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), ISBN 0-19-869164-5