THE SOUND OF MUSIC

In the organizer's words:

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

Based on "The Trapp Family" by Maria Augusta Trapp

Translation (dialogs) by Heiko Wohlgemuth & Kevin Schroeder

The performance of THE SOUND OF MUSIC is by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals GmbH, on behalf of and by order of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization

SALZBURGER ALPENIDYLLE The prospective nun Maria comes to the villa of the widowed Baron von Trapp as a nanny, where she turns the strictly regimented family life upside down. Maria brings cheerfulness into the house and shares her love of music with the seven children, who soon celebrate their first successes as a small choir. And it's not just the children who take Maria to their hearts. The reserved captain and the fun-loving young woman develop a strong affection for each other. Von Trapp separates from his fiancée Elsa and marries Maria. But political developments are already casting their shadow and destroying the family idyll. The invasion of Austria by National Socialist troops and the "Anschluss" left the family with no choice. They take advantage of a singing competition at the Salzburg Festival to flee abroad, which they manage to do at the last minute.

AMERICAN SUCCESS STORY The musical is based on the autobiography of Maria Augusta von Kutschera, who was sent by her mother superior to the widowed Baron Georg von Trapp as a postulant in the Nonnberg convent near Salzburg in 1924. After emigrating, the singing Trapp family made a great career in the USA. The Broadway production The Sound of Music (1959) was written by the celebrated musical team Rodgers and Hammerstein and won five Tony Awards. Among the most beautiful and famous songs are "Edelweiss", "The Sound of Music", "My Favorite Things", "Do-Re-Mi", "Sixteen Going on Seventeen", "So Long", "Farewell" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain".

AUSTRIAN CURIOSITY The film adaptation of the 1965 musical set against an idyllic Salzburg backdrop and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer was a box office hit in the USA, winning five Oscars and is considered one of the most-watched films of all time. A curiosity is that the world-famous musical, which is still responsible for three quarters of all US tourists in Salzburg today, was virtually unknown in Austria itself for a long time, where it was dismissed as a kitschy Hollywood show. Asian and American tourists to Salzburg are always stunned when locals confess that they have never seen the movie.