No other musician of the 19th century left such deep impressions on his contemporaries and the world as Johann Strauss, the king of the waltz. Also known as Johann the Handsome because of his impressive outlook, his thick black brows, and his always elegant manner of dress, he was a man who knew what the public expected from him, and, perhaps, used that to his romantic advantage.

During his 74 years, he was said to have promised marriage to 17 women, but only three actually became his wives.

Johann Strauss was born in the time of Biedermeier, when pleasure-seeking members of society were attending social festivities without distinction of social class.

His father, Johann Strauss the Elder, was the universally flattered interpreter of popular feeling during the carnival season. The famous "salons," such as the Eliseum, the Sperl, and the Diana, were gathering places not only of the high aristocracy, but also of the bourgeoisie and the townspeople who devoted themselves to dance to the rhythm of the intoxicating Viennese waltz.

Press notice on the debut of Johann Strauss the Younger

Johann the Elder lived until 1849. In spite of the paternal prohibition, the son had already made his debut in 1844 in the Dommayer café near the imperial residence of Schönbrunn: his success in the concert was commented upon by the newspapers which found out about the crisis between father and son ahead of time.

Johann the Younger was surprised by the 1848 revolution in Romania, where he composed the "March of the Revolution." A contemporary of the students, he sympathized with their case. Later, when this created difficulties with his becoming director of the Court Orchestra, he tried to win the favor of the imperial house with compositions like the "March of Franz Joseph."

From 1852 until 1865 Strauss was director of the Ball conventions of the students of jurisprudence and technology, where he enthused his young public with his "hot" dance music. Directing his orchestra day after day in the most popular cafés of Vienna—Dommayer on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays in the Corti near the imperial palace, Thursdays in the Valentines Bierhalle, Saturdays in the Währingerstrasse and on Sundays in the Casino Unger—very soon won him more notoriety than any musician had enjoyed before.

A musical reporter, Strauss always appropriately wrote about topics of his time, such as the young emperor's commitment with Elisabeth of Bavaria ("Elisabeth Klänge") or the demolition of the walls of the city ordered by Franz Joseph ("Waltz of the demolition").

Johann's surprising marriage with Jetty Treffz, a former maitresse of Baron Tosdesco, in August of 1862, was not free of scandals: The former actress had to send back her children to the respective fathers in order to become his wife. She soon became a manager of the young Strauss, who was not only fascinated by her presence but also by her skill to manage the orchestra.

The success was such that he had to incorporate his two brothers, Josef and Eduard (who had to abandon his engineer career), in order to form the company of directors of the Vienna Balls and become composers of waltzes during two generations.

One of the most famous waltzes was the "Blue Danube", opus 314, composed in 1867, marking a climax in the life of Strauss. It was written in Praterstrasse 54, which is today the Strauss museum.

He made several trips to Pavlovsk, near St. Petersburg, where he was engaged during the summer to offer amusement to the Russian nobility. During the months of May to October, Maestro Strauss of Vienna became not only the idol of the Russian aristocrats but also of their wives, and more than once he found himself in difficulties to escape from jealous husbands or from young girls whom he had fancied. On one occasion it was only with the help of his consul, who escorted him to the station hidden in his coach, that Strauss managed to escape from an already announced wedding party.

Also wildly successful was his trip to Boston, where he directed the orchestra before 70,000 spectators, something never before seen. The echo of its fame abroad won him much recognition in Vienna, as well.

The year 1870 was a tragic one as it marked the deaths of his mother, of his brother Josef, and of his aunt with whom he had lived together in Taborstrasse during his youth.
Fame was followed by fortune, and in order to improve his economic situation he moved to the district of Hietzing where he wrote his best-known operetta "Die Fledermaus" ("The Bat"). His wife, who had organized his life with so much compassion, died suddenly in 1878. Without her advice he soon fell into depressions but found comfort and later marriage with Angelika ("Lily") Dietrich, an actress 25 years his junior.

However, it was a marriage of short duration because the young actress left him after having an affair with the director of the Theater an der Wien. Lily married the director later on, but eventually died in poverty in 1919.

Strauss' separation from Lily was followed by a third engagement, this time with Adele Strauss, widowed after three years of marriage with an entrepreneur and 31 years younger than the maestro. In order to marry Adele, Strauss had to give up the Catholic faith and his nationality. In Austria, getting re-married after a divorce was not tolerated during the lifetime of a former spouse.

Another obstacle was that Adele was Jewish. To avoid all troubles, they moved to Coburg in Saxony, where both adopted the Protestant confession and acquired local citizenship so they could get happily married in 1887, four years after starting to live together. The scandal in Vienna was perfect: By reason of the law the beloved "Schani" (Johann) was no longer an Austrian!

The handsome Johann Strauss lived his last years in company of his wife Adele, a woman who managed the maestro's agenda, organized his calendar and private life, and acted cleverly in financial matters and as a legal expert. After the death of Strauss she intervened to prolong the right of musicians' heirs to royalties to 32 years. (Today, royalty rights of heirs have been extended to 70 years in Austria, and to 56 years in the United States).

During this period Strauss wrote the music for a total of 16 operettas, some with Hungarian temperament, such as the "Zigeunerbaron" (Gypsy Baron) and "Ritter Pasman" (Pasman the Knight), others with an Italian flavor, such as "Eine Nacht in Venedig" ("A Night in Venice") or Cagliostro in Vienna, and others again about his beloved native city, such as "Wiener Blut" ("Vienna Blood"), "Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald" ("Stories from the Vienna Forest") and other works in which the atmosphere of the salons of Vienna of the 19th century have survived.

At the age of 74 and on verge of welcoming a new century, the king of the waltz closed his eyes forever on June 3, 1899, in his house in Igelgasse in the 4th district of Vienna. He is buried in the Central Cemetery of Vienna where thousands of admirers from all over the world come to surrender a short homage to the most famous Viennese composer brought forward by the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

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The ideal place to stay for lovers of the music of the great maestro where they can meet the author of this article and other music aficionados from all over the world. Inquiries and reservations: johannstrauss@vienna.at

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