In Strasbourg, the erotic opera "Giuditta" by Pierre-André Weitz

The languid Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss – On my lips your heart burns – imprinted on the minds of the audience this Sunday, May 11, the waltzing swirls of the most famous aria from Franz Lehar's (1870-1948) Giuditta . Presented in its French translation at the Théâtre national du Rhin in Strasbourg, the work oscillates between operetta, opera, and film music. Not surprisingly, its synopsis is partly inspired by Morocco ( Burned Hearts ), a 1930 film directed by Josef von Sternberg based on Benno Vigny's book, Amy Jolly, the Woman from Marrakech (published in Germany in 1927). This first major Hollywood role for Marlene Dietrich depicts a cabaret artist stranded in Mogador in the midst of the Rif War, a femme fatale in love with a handsome legionnaire (Gary Cooper). Her charm captivates all the men, including a very wealthy businessman.

On January 20, 1934, recorded live at the Vienna Opera by 120 radio stations worldwide and played to sold-out audiences, the "musikalische Komödie" by the composer of The Merry Widow was a resounding success. Adapted into a French version by André Mauprey (already the "translator" of The Land of Smiles ), Franz Lehar's last stage work conquered the cities of Europe, before its rise was halted by the advent of Nazism – Lehar, who married a Jewish woman, also worked with artists of the Hebrew faith, starting with the famous tenor, Richard Tauber, soon exiled to Great Britain, who inspired the arias entrusted to the character of Octavio, whose beauty would break his heart irrevocably.

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