Antique & Vintage Postcards

Sheet music in your pocket — this delightful Austro-Hungarian novelty folds open to reveal the complete score and lyrics of Heut' wär' ich so in der Stimmung ("Today I'm in Such a Mood"), a hit song from Leo Fall's beloved 1916 operetta Die Rose von Stambul, here presented as "M.L. Karten No. 4" by Lyra-Verlag of Leipzig and Vienna. The front cover features a pencil-sketch portrait of Hubert Marischka — the celebrated Viennese operetta star and theater director who created the role — rendered by artist G.v. Frensdorff in elegant grey tones, the subject depicted in military uniform befitting the wartime premiere. The text credits Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald (librettists) and composer Leo Fall; copyright is 1917 by Ed. Strache, Warnsdorf. The reverse carries caricature drawings and an advertisement for "Die Stadt unserer Sehnsucht" by Rudolf Kronegger — a charming window into Viennese popular music culture at its most exuberant wartime peak.