Classical
Joseph Felix von Kurz
1717–1784 · Vienna · Austrian comic actor, singer, playwright and theatre impresario
Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz, also known as Bernardon, was born and died in Vienna (1717-1784). He was a comic actor, singer, playwright and company director working in the German language, and a central figure in popular theatre across German-speaking Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century.
The son of the actor and impresario Felix Kurz, he grew up backstage and was godson to Stranitzky and J. B. Hilverding. By around the age of twenty he was playing leading roles with the German company at Vienna's Kärntnertortheater, under the direction of Stranitzky's successor, Gottfried Prehauser. Between 1740 and 1744 he performed in Germany, mainly in Frankfurt and Dresden, and after returning to Vienna (1744-1753) he refined the magic farce, interspersed with songs, choruses, ensembles and incidental music, which dominated the popular repertoire across much of southern Germany. In an extensive series of works, mostly of his own invention, he played Bernardon, a lively, urbane and satirical comic character.
Following the imperial prohibition of improvisation, he moved to Prague in 1753, where he was sub-lessee and director of the Kotzen Opera together with Locatelli. He returned to Vienna in 1754, with a reputation for sumptuous productions and music of high quality in his performances; Haydn collaborated with him on Der (neue) krumme Teufel. Between 1769 and 1771 he shared the lease of the Viennese theatre with Gluck and, after a tour that took him to Breslau, Danzig and Warsaw, he directed the theatre in the latter city before retiring to run a paper factory.
His legacy rests above all on his work as a playwright and comic actor, marked by an early and notable awareness of the role of music in the theatre. He is credited with introducing the first works recognisable as modern Singspiele, although this assessment should be read as a judgement by historians rather than a settled fact.
Notable works and achievements
- Der (neue) krumme Teufel
- Bernardon (character and series of magic farces)
- La serva padrona (Vienna production, 1769-1771)
Anecdotes and curiosities
A glamorous godfather
His godparents were Josef Anton Stranitzky, the creator of Hanswurst and manager of the Kärntnertortheater, and Johann Baptist Hilverding, another comedian. The future Bernardon was thus surrounded by some of the most influential figures of Viennese theatre from the very cradle, a connection that would shape his whole career.
A character who keeps changing
Bernardon had no fixed costume, profession or origin. He could transform himself and even change gender, and what linked his many appearances was the actor who played him and the name he carried. He was a chameleon-like figure reacting to the chaos of a world turned into a game.
A law against a character
In 1752 Empress Maria Theresa issued a decree that, in an addendum, banned for all time every composition by the so-called Bernardon. Kurz had to flee and perform in Prague and Regensburg. Yet the edict had little real effect, since the Bernardoniads remained so popular even in aristocratic circles.
Source: Wikipedia (EN) · CC BY-SA 4.0