Berté, Heinrich

Berté, Heinrich, Hungarian composer; b. Galgócz, May 8, 1857; d. Perchtoldsdorf, near Vienna, Aug. 23, 1924. He was a student in Vienna of Hellmesberger, Fuchs, and Bruckner, and in Paris of Delibes. He began his career composing mainly ballets, but from 1904 he devoted much time to operettas. While success eluded him as a composer of original scores, he achieved phenomenal success with the Schubert pasticcio Das Dreimaderlhaus (Vienna, Jan. 15, 1916). It subsequently was heard all over the world in tr. as Lilac Time, Blossom Time, Chanson d’amour, etc. His nephew, Emil Berte (b. Vienna, Dec. 6, 1898; d. there, Jan. 17, 1968), was also a composer. He prepared the Schubert pasticcio Der Musikus von Lichtenthal (Vienna, March 30, 1928). His original scores for the theater included Musik in Mai (Vienna, May 13, 1927), Steppenkinder (Augsburg, Dec. 15, 1929), Das Kaiserliebchen (Vienna, Jan. 4, 1930), and Melodie aus Wien (Linz, Oct. 22, 1955).

Works

DRAMATIC: Musical Theater: Bureau Malicorne (Baden bei Wien, Feb. 22, 1887); Die Schneeflocke (Prague, Oct. 4, 1896); Der neue Burgermeister (Vienna, Jan. 8, 1904); Die Millionenbraut (Munich, April 3, 1904); Der Stadtregent (Munich, April 1, 1905); Der salóne Gardist (Breslau, Oct. 12, 1907); Der kleine Chevalier (Dresden, Nov. 30, 1907); Die Wunder-quelle (Holle, Nov. 1, 1908); Der Glücksnarr (Vienna, Nov. 7, 1908); Der erste Kuss (Hamburg, Nov. 14, 1909); Kreolenblut (Hamburg, Dec. 25, 1910); Der Marchenprinz (Hannover, Feb. 28, 1914); Das Dreimaderlhaus (Vienna, Jan. 15, 1916); Tavasz es szerelem or Lenz und Liebe (Budapest, Sept. 15, 1917); Die drei Kavaliere (Hamburg, Nov. 5, 1919); Kulissengeheimnisse (Hamburg, Jan. 28, 1920).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire