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At the end of the 1920s nun-to-be
Maria Kutschera moved into the house of Captain von Trapp
to work as governess to his 6 children. After a year, they
got married and added another 2 children to their family circle.
Von Trapp was a highly decorated
World War I veteran and a widower with 7 children, living
in Salzburg. Because of an unfortunate financial crisis, Maria
started to arrange concerts with the children singing, making
a family hobby to an profession.
In 1938 when Austria
was affiliated by Hitler Germany, Captain von Trapp refused
to join Hitler's army. The family had to flee. Packed with
only their Rucksacks they left all their fortune and belongings
behind them and crossed the Alps heading for Italy. In 1938,
they arrived in New York with no money and Maria pregnant.
Starting there with no money and without being known, they
soon managed to reach national popularity. They had to return
to Europe once more before they managed to get permanent residence
in the states, where the family kept touring. In 1941, they
purchased a large farm in Vermont, mostly because the landscape
reminded them of the beloved Austrian Alps. It was
Maria who wrote and published the family's story.
The book sold well. Maria accepted
an offer of a German film company. "Die Familie Trapp"
and its sequel were highly successful. Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein turned the story into a highly successful
broadway musical: The Sound of Music. Rodgers and Hammerstein
adapted the musical for cinema. In 1965 20th Centry Fox released
the film 'The Sound of Music' with Julie Andrews cast as Maria.
The film would win 5 Oscars and become one of the most popular
Hollywood movies of all times. Partly, it was shot in scene
in the Austrian Alps and in Salzburg: the Mirabell gardens,
Residence square or 'Felsenreitschule' are just some locations,
which you can all still visit!
While being highly successful
from the States to Japan and exporting an image of Austria
all over the world, the Sound of Music is largely unknown
in Austria and Germany.
Only now, in 2005, the Viennese
Volksoper aims to change that and premiers the German
translation of the Broadway musical 'The Sound of Music'.
Sandra Pires, a popular Austrian singer, will take Julie Andrews
place as Maria.
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