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ENDRE MARTON: STUDENTS OF VIENNA, 1949 traditions of bourgeois operetta"," and this opinion was echoed by Róbert Rátonyis article in Színház és Filmművészet a few years later."" The official opinion doomed the performance to failure, but later and without selfcriticism it was described by Rátonyi himself as “highly successful”. Moreover, Jenő Semsei already assessed Students of Vienna in 1954 as "giving the theatre recognition in the first few weeks"."§ In view of the score full of catchy tunes and the libretto written with impressive finesse (even when incorporating guasi-obligatory elements), it seems unlikely that — except the critic of Népszava, verbally abusing Kalman Latabar — any spectators “looked at [their] shoes with a red face in shame”! 15 4 múlt színházi évad vázlatos értékelése, 15. Hé Cf. “We had not been able to successfully cope with the harmful vestiges of bourgeois operetta yet. Schematic characters, their portrayal according to stereotypes, exhibitionism in acting were all difficult obstacles on our path." Róbert Rátonyi: Merre tart a vidám műfaj?, Színház és Filmművészet 3:2 (1952), 68. 17 Ratonyi: Operett, Vol. 2, 264. 118 Semsei, in Az operett kérdéseiről, 4. N° y.y.: Bécsi didkok, 6. + 39 +
