“Operetta and me? … Never!…” – On the trail of a forgotten operetta composer, Ákos Buttykay (1871–1935)

Abstract

The research project Chapters from the History of 20th Century Hungarian Operetta: The Operetta Art of Ákos Buttykay has as its subject the operetta art of Ákos Buttykay (1871–1935), who was unjustly disqualified from the operetta canon. The subject is highly topical and necessary since the reconstruction of the history of 20th-century Hungarian operetta has been complicated by the fact that, with the exception of a few popular and well-known operetta composers – including Pál Ábrahám (Paul Abraham), Imre Kálmán (Emmerich Kálmán) and Ferenc Lehár (Franz Lehár) – the oeuvre and biography of the composers who were instrumental in the development of the Hungarian operetta style have yet to be reviewed. This shortcoming became evident to me during my research into the history of 20th century Hungarian operetta and the reconstruction of Buttykay's career and operetta works – using archival sources and contemporary press sources – is the first step towards filling this gap. I chose Buttykay mainly on the basis of my preliminary research and findings, as a composer who had written dozens of operettas and whose name was associated with the most successful operettas of the Hungarian musical stages in the first half of the 20th century.