It was about time for a comprehensive biography of the piano humorist Hermann Leopoldi (1888–1959). This biography by Georg Traska and Christoph Lind, which is in large part based on the artist's autobiography, was finally published in English in 2013. Who was Hermann Leopoldi, born as Hersch Kohn in the former outskirts of Vienna? He was a Jewish musician who became a star in the 1920s, not only in Viennese cabaret, vaudeville shows, and revues, but also in the newest media of the time: broadcasting and gramophone records. Leopoldi always had brilliant songwriters and composers supporting his work; songs often were produced by a team of authors, such as Hanns Haller, Peter Herz, Theodor Waldau, and Kurt Robitschek.

Leopoldi achieved success as a piano humorist while living through three political regimes. Born into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which was followed by the unstable First Austrian Republic, Leopoldi also succeeded during the Fascist Ständestaat between 1934 and 1938. Shortly after the Anschluss, Leopoldi was arrested by the National Socialists and sent to the concentration camps Dachau and Buchenwald, where he composed the “Buchenwaldlied” (lyrics by Fritz Loehner-Beda, librettist of the famous composer Franz Lehár). Leopoldi was lucky: he was sent an affidavit by his parents-in-law, and he was able to escape to America.

Congenial partners on stage were the soubrettes Betja Milskaja and Helly Moeslein. Moeslein, who also became Leopoldi's longtime companion, was a great help in reestablishing Leopoldi's career in New York. There they performed in front of Austrian and German refugees. These “gigs,” which mostly took place in Viennese cafés, were followed by engagements in the Catskill Mountains, in Carnegie Hall, on Broadway, and also in Chicago's Orchestra Hall. After performances of hit songs in German, Leopoldi began to present typical scenes from the daily life of “greenhorns” in exile (e.g., “Die Novaks aus Prag,” “Märchen vom Bernhardiner”). These songs were followed by lyrics in “Emigranto” (a mixture of German and English, e.g., “Da wär's halt gut, wenn man Englisch könnt”). Finally, Leopoldi translated more and more songs into English (e.g., “I'm Just a Quiet Drinker,” “The Little Café down the Street,” or “Composers' Revolution in Heaven”).

The Viennese cabaret in America (1938–1950) had no lasting impact on the cultural scene there, as the Americans had a completely different approach to comedy and sophistication. This was one reason for Leopoldi's return to Austria after the war. Colleagues like Fritz Spielmann/Fred Spielman, who was the composer of the Leopoldi song “Schinkenfleckerl” and was much younger (1906–1997), stormed the American charts. Armin Berg (1883–1956), in contrast, tried to re-migrate but finally lived on two continents and in two worlds. Leopoldi and Moeslein, despite all their troubles and the persistent anti-Semitism in Vienna, reintegrated in Viennese society and rebuilt careers. In 1959 Leopoldi died of a heart attack. He was survived by Moeslein, as well as by his little son Ronald (born in 1955) and his children from his first marriage, Gertrud and Norbert.

The present study of Leopoldi and his musical and political environment affords the reader a deeper appreciation of the “Wiener Lied,” Viennese “popular music,” and all its composers, lyricists, and performers at the beginning of the twentieth century. Traska and Lind try to trace Leopoldi's biography through his songs. The book comes with a “goody”—a CD of his music. With it, readers can deepen their understanding of his biography by listening to the music itself. Readers can also consult the work of Leopoldi scholar Franziska Ernst (Vienna, 2010) and Gertraud Pressler's essay on Jewishness and anti-Semitism in Viennese popular culture (Vienna, 1998). The present study provides insight into a special genre dealing with Jewishness and anti-Semitism experienced by mostly Jewish performers. Hermann Leopoldi was one of them. But he also was a cosmopolitan, acting, playing music, and singing about topics with his fingers always on the pulse of the times, though fading out political reality very often. It is a pity that some of the personal questions about Leopoldi still remain unanswered. Nevertheless, this new biography offers deeper insight into Austrian, European, and American social, music, and cabaret history.