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Eminent Viennese composer (1825–1899) known as the 'Waltz King,' who is remembered for such classics as 'The Beautiful Blue Danube' and the 'Emperor Waltz,' and for the operetta staple, 'Die Fledermaus.' Unsigned handwritten musical manuscript by Johan Strauss II, totaling 32 pages, 10.5 x 13.75 no date but circa 1876. Strauss drafts the duet "Zum ersten Mal mit dir allein" from Act I of Prinz Methusalem in full score, on up to twenty-four staves per page, with many autograph corrections, revisions, alterations, and deletions, with some notes scratched out by Strauss; pages 19–27, and page 32, are in another hand, though annotated by Strauss; page 28 has been left blank and struck through in indelible pencil. Bound in old paper wrappers, artistically titled on the front and annotated in pencil by a collector. In fine condition.
An operetta written by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by Karl Treumann, Prinz Methusalem premiered at Vienna’s Carltheater on January 3, 1877, at a moment when Strauss—already celebrated internationally as the 'Waltz King'—was increasingly focused expanding his reputation into the operetta stage. While contemporary critics were divided, the work enjoyed considerable popular success, running for a respectable eighty performances. The Act I duet presented here, sung by Prinz Methusalem and Pulcinella, exemplifies Strauss’s melodic sophistication and instinct for theatrical dialogue, and was originally performed by Antonie Link and Caroline Finaly.
