Joseph Beer - Der Prinz von Schiras (Stefan Veselka)

Information

Composer: Joseph Beer

• Der Prinz von Schiras

Carlos Moreno Pelizari; Theodora Varga; Kirsten Labonte

Michael Haake; Scarlett Pulwey; Matthias Störmer

Paul Kmetsch; Fabiana Locke; Felix Rabas; Roger Krebs

Opernchor Regensburg

Philharmonisches Orchester Regensburg

Stefan Veselka, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: CPO

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Joseph Beer’s operetta The Prince of Shiraz reveals the remarkable talent of a composer widely regarded as a musical prodigy. Blending diverse styles such as Charleston, tango, oriental melismas, and quickstep, the work reflects the creativity that impressed the Vienna Academy of Music so greatly that Beer was allowed to skip his first four years of study. Premiered at the Stadttheater Zürich in 1934 and later performed at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien, the operetta achieved immediate success. However, Beer’s promising career was interrupted by the rise of the Nazi regime. Nearly ninety years later, the revival of this lively romantic story has proven highly successful, restoring attention to Beer’s vibrant and charming work.

Joseph Beer (1908–1987) was a composer born in L’vov, then a Polish city, into a Jewish family. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna under Joseph Marx and graduated with highest honors in 1931. His early operettas, including Der Prinz von Schiras (1934) and Polnische Hochzeit (1936), achieved widespread acclaim and international performances. However, his career was abruptly halted in 1938 when the Nazi regime banned his works, forcing him to flee to Nice, France. After the war, devastated by the loss of his family in the Holocaust, Beer withdrew from the musical establishment but continued composing privately. He later earned a doctorate in musicology from the Sorbonne and left a substantial body of largely rediscovered works.

Stefan Veselka, born in Stavanger, Norway to Czech parents, is a distinguished pianist and conductor recognized as one of the leading Norwegian musicians of his generation. He studied piano at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and later at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. Following his debut in 1985, he built an international career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing across Europe, Japan, and the United States and collaborating with major orchestras at renowned venues and festivals. Veselka has also developed a successful conducting career, leading numerous opera productions and orchestral performances throughout Europe. He served as principal conductor of the Münster Symphony Orchestra from 2014 to 2021 and became General Music Director of Theater Regensburg and the Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg in the 2023–24 season.