"Die Giraffe in Wien" - Original 1828 Playbill

Original playbill from the 1828 Singspiel Die Giraffe in Wien, oder Alles à la Giraffe!, by the Viennese playwright Adolf Bäuerle and composer Joseph Drechsler. The playbill features an engraving depicting a giraffe in the courtyard of the Leopoldstädter Theater in Vienna, with "well-known characters from the best-loved plays of the author." The text below advertises the play's premiere on May 9, 1828, and lists the complete cast. Light toning, but overall in very fine condition. 6 x 9.5 inches (15 x 24.3 cm).

In 1828, the Pasha of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, sent three giraffes as diplomatic gifts to France, Britain, and Austria. The giraffe that arrived at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo caused a sensation. Historian Olivier Lebleu writes: "Austrian women were soon styling their hair ‘à la Girafe’, wearing giraffe-patterned clothes, gloves and earrings, scenting themselves with ‘Esprit à la Girafe’ and even redecorating their boudoirs with special wallpaper. Three days after the animal’s arrival there was a great Giraffe Ball at the ‘Blue Grape’ inn at Penzing (now Vienna’s 14th district) [...] Two musical pieces were created for the occasion by Austrian composers: a ‘Giraffengalopp’ by Henri Herz and a ‘Giraffen-Rondeau’ by Wenzel Plachy. The upright harpsichord (Harfenklavier in German), which first appeared around 1798, became remarketed as the Giraffe-piano." Bäuerle and Drechsler's musical play was part of this cultural phenomenon. (16360)

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Broadside

Program, unsigned

Classical Music

Theater

Opera

• Sold