Hopsa

About

With “Hopsa,” Swiss composer Paul Burkhard laid the foundation for his international career in 1935. The tale of the American orphan girl Hopsa became a major hit after its premiere at Zurich Opera House, making the 24-year-old composer an overnight sensation. Critics praised his distinctive voice, blending cultivated jazz idioms with lyrical sensitivity. Structurally, Burkhard fused the revue-operetta label with a clearly two-part musical form, including prologue and epilogue. Guided by publisher Armin L. Robinson, who took him to Paris and London to study operetta’s renewal, Burkhard created not only his first stage work but the first Swiss musical. Bühne Burgäschi stages the production open-air at the Hornusserhaus Oekingen, with the Burgäschi Dance Orchestra under Reimar Walthert and stage direction by Melanie Gehrig.