Wien huet d’Box un an der lëtzebuergescher Operett?

Eng Table-Ronde mat Interlüde vum Weeltzer Gesank

Table-Ronde

In 1922, “An der Schwemm” was performed with great success. To date, it is the only Luxembourg operetta by a female composer: Lou Koster. In this amusing but socially critical play by Batty Weber, old models are overturned. The new woman, the Garçonne of the Roaring Twenties, is on stage dressed in a sporty swimsuit. The swimming pool is a symbol of equality for women.

A lot has happened in the history of Luxembourg operetta: few people still know that in Dicks’ first operetta, the female roles were sung by men… But what was that like? And what image of women did Dicks, born around 70 years before Lou Koster, have? What do such operettas tell us today?

Is “freestyle swimming” still a problem in a highly individualized society? Are there still masculine and feminine roles in music, literature and society? And how are roles exchanged and apparent boundaries crossed today?

Round table with: Germaine Goetzinger, Jonathan Kaell, Tatsiana Zelianko, Sonja Kmec (moderation), Danielle Roster (contribution report)

Festival de Wiltz in cooperation with Music and Gender in Luxembourg (Institute of History, University of Luxembourg)