Emil Von Rezniček was born in Vienna, Austria, on May 4, 1860, the son
of a princess and an Austrian field marshal. For a time he studied law,
but then devoted himself completely to music study, mainly at the
Leipzig Conservatory. From 1896 to 1899 he was the conductor of several
theater orchestras in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 1902 he
settled in Berlin where he founded and for several years conducted an
annual series of orchestral concerts. Subsequently he was the conductor
of the Warsaw Opera and from 1909 to 1911 of the Komische Oper in
Berlin. He also pursued a highly successful career as teacher,
principally at the Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin and from 1920 to
1926 at the Berlin High School of Music. He went into retirement in
1929, and died in Berlin on August 2, 1945.
Rezniček was the composer of several operas, five symphonies, three tone
poems and various other compositions. His greatest success came with the
comic opera, _Donna Diana_, introduced in Prague on December 16, 1894,
and soon thereafter heard in forty-three European opera houses. The
opera—libretto by the composer based on a Spanish comedy by Moreto y
Cabana—is consistently light and frothy. Carlos is in pursuit of
Princess Diana, and to effect her surrender he feigns he is madly in
love with her. Princess Diana plays a game of her own. Coyly she eludes
him after seeming to fall victim to his wiles. In the end they both
discover they are very much in love with each other.
The opera is almost never heard any longer, but the witty overture is a
favorite throughout the world; it is the only piece of music by the
composer that is still often performed today. A sustained introduction
leads into the jolly first theme—a fast, light little melody that sets
the prevailing mood of frivolity. The heart of the overture is an
expressive melody shared by basses and oboe. It grows in passion and
intensity as other sections of the orchestra develop it. When this
melody comes to a climax, the passionate mood is suddenly dissipated,
and the frivolous first theme of the overture returns to restore a mood
of reckless gaiety.