(The School for Lovers)
MUNICH, from which city tonight's broadcast is being relayed, has a long operatic history. It reaches at least back to the time of the di Lassos, father, son and grandson, who were Hofkapellmeisters in . Munich when opera was an infant. The oldest existing opera house in the city is the Residenztheater, opened in 1753, and it was there that Mozart produced his Idomeneo twenty-eight years later. There are some seven theatres where opera can be heard in Munich, three of which are grouped together under the name of the Bayerische Staatstheater. These are the Residenztheater ; the Nationaltheater, which dates from 1825, and the Prinz-Regententheater, which was built in 1901 as a Memorial Theatre for performances after the manner of those in Bayreuth.
The greater glory of Munich as an operatic city began, however, in 1860 with the friendship of King Ludwig of Bavaria and Richard Wagner. Then, with Hans von Biilow as general music director and Hans Richter as chorus master, a series of memorable performances took place at the Nationaltheater. One after another Wagner's operas were produced there, The Rheingold, The Valkyrie, Tristan and Isolda, and The Mastersingers. Munich opera thereby achieved a world-wide reputation.
During the present month the Annual Festival of Opera is taking place at Munich. This Festival dates roughly from the beginning of this century and has since grown to an event of international importance. The staple programme consists of a series of Mozart operas at the Residenztheater, and Wagner operas at the Prinz-Regententheater. The casts are brilliant, and amongst the conductors are Dr. Richard Strauss, who is conducting the broadcast performance of Cost Fan Tulte tonight, and Sir Thomas Beecham , who has been invited to conduct Mozart's Magic Flute and II Seraglio. Thus it is that we are enabled to hear from the Munich studio the actual cast and orchestra that are appearing in the Mozart operas at the Residenztheater during the Festival.