Straus, Oskar (1870-1954)

Austrian composer and conductor. A pupil of Max Bruch, he was chief conductor and composer at the Überbrettl cabaret, becoming a master of light satirical stage pieces. His first major success came in 1907 and 1908, with the operettas Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream and Der tapfere Soldat/The Chocolate Soldier.

Straus studied with Hermann Grädener (1844-1929) and Max Bruch in Berlin and became a theatre conductor in various towns, including Bratislava, where he premiered his first operetta, Der Weise von Cordoba, in 1895. After Ein Walzertraum and Der tapfere Soldat he settled in Berlin, in Vienna in 1927, and subsequently in Paris. In 1940 he emigrated to the USA, returning to Europe in 1948.

Works Opera and stage operas Die Waise von Cordova and Das Tal der Liebe (1909); operettas, including Ein Walzertraum/A Waltz Dream (1907), Der tapfere Soldat/The Chocolate Soldier (after Shaw's Arms and the Man, 1908), Love and Laughter (1913), The Last Waltz, Riquette.

Orchestral overture to Grillparzer's Der Traum ein Leben, serenade for string orchestra.