Hello again SynthZone friends,

In a separate post below, you can read an announcement about the Jaybirds latest Playalong #22 on Cees web site, Victor Herbert's "Kiss me Again". I also posted a brief bit about the composer, Victor Herbert. Here is some further information about the song and the operetta, for those of you who may be interested.

The song is from a Herbert operetta, "Mlle. Modiste" (1905), which told of an American shop girl who finds romance and operatic fame in Paris. Metropolitan Opera soprano Fritzi Scheff triumphed in the title role, introducing the wistful waltz "Kiss Me Again." She toured in revivals of the show for more than two decades.

"Mlle. Modiste," one of Victor Herbert's greatest triumphs, opened at the Knickerbocker Theater on Christmas night, 1905. As mentioned above, it featured the waltz "Kiss Me Again" and starred Fritzi Scheff, who had been lured away from the Metropolitan Opera.

"Mlle. Modiste" is set in Paris, where the fetching Fifi is employed in a hat shop. She falls in love with Captain Etienne de Bouvray, but Etienne cannot marry outside his own aristocratic circle. Heartbroken, Fifi pursues her ambition of becoming a great singer. With financial help from a wealthy American, she develops into a famous prima donna under the assumed name of Mme. Bellini. When she is invited to perform at the estate of Etienne's uncle, she wins the old Count completely with her singing. The proud de Bouvray can resist no longer and happily sanctions Fifi's marriage to Etienne.

(Some of thr above data from: "A History Of Music in American Life, Vol. II" by Ronald L. Davis)