Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz (22 February 1717 – 3 February 1784) was an Austrian actor, playwright and impresario. He achieved fame for his exceptional acting skills, particularly for his recurring role as Bernardon and the so-called 'Bernardoniade', a form of improvisational comedy. Alongside Josef Anton Stranitzky and Gottfried Prehauser, he is considered one of the most important and popular Viennese comedians and actors of the 18th century. His comedies are regarded as the pinnacle of Viennese improvisational theatre.
Life He was born in Vienna to Felix and Edmunda (von) Kurz - she was known as "die Felixin" while Felix (known as 'Comicus Felix') was a traveling theatre director and actor, originally from Kempten (Allgäu). Johann's godparents were Josef Anton Stranitzky, inventor of Hanswurst (a stock character type) and impresario of the Kärntnertortheater, and Johann Baptist Hilverding, another comedian. Andrea Brandner-Kapfer: Lebenslauf des Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz. In: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz: Eine ganz neue Komödie. 2010, p. 449Ferdinand Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernadon. 1899, p. 1 f. Felix left Vienna in 1720, acted in Königsberg and from 1724 onwards was in Breslau (now Wrocław). He founded his own travelling theatre troupe in 1725, which from then until 1730 performed as the "Brünn Comedians" in Brno in the winter and travelled for the rest of the year to Moravia, Munich and Vienna, along with Olomouc in 1726, Breslau in 1731 and Prague in 1734 and 1735. Johann played child roles in his father's company until 1737. Andrea Brandner-Kapfer: Lebenslauf des Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz. In: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz: Eine ganz neue Komödie. 2010, p. 449; Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernadon. 1899, pp. 2–4.
In 1737, Kurz returned to Vienna and became an actor at the Kärntnertor Theatre, where he performed alongside Gottfried Prehauser, Stranitzky's successor as the new Viennese Hanswurst, and Franz Anton Nuth, as Harlequin, and was kept on until 1740. Initially, he played the latter comic role, but during this period he also developed his recurring role of Bernardon, which later became the focus of his comedies and whose name became Kurz's stage name. Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernadon. 1899, pp. 5–16, particularly p. 5, 12 f.
The Holy Roman Emperor died in 1740 and theatres were banned. The following year Kurz and the Nuth couple went to Frankfurt and became part of Gerwaldi von Wallerotty's theatre troupe. Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, p. 16–19. Through his work with Wallerotty and simultaneously touring with a troupe under French director Jean Baptiste Gherardi, Kurz received important inspiration for the scenarios and plays he wrote later in life. The latter brought him into contact with the French variants of comic traveling theatre, which were more strongly oriented towards the Commedia dell'arte, whilst the latter made him familiar with Wallerotty's theatrical compositions. Wallerotty arranged his performances based on scenarios adapted from existing models, combined with interludes, dance, song, machinery, and fireworks, leaving ample room for improvisation. Andrea Brandner-Kapfer: Lebenslauf des Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz. In: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz: Eine ganz neue Komödie. 2010, pp. 450–452. Kurz's first original plays also date from this period.
In 1742 Kurz left Frankfurt and the following year he performed in Dresden with his father. There he met Franziska Toscani, whom he married on 29 August 1743. She began performing with her husband in 1744. The couple had eight children, who appeared in children's roles in their father's plays. The three eldest, Anna Eleonora Theresia Franziska (born 1745), Bartholomäus Chrystophorus Josephus (born 1746), and Susanna Franziska Antonia (born 1747), were listed by name in the theatre's scripts and payroll. Andrea Brandner-Kapfer: Lebenslauf des Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz. In: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz: Eine ganz neue Komödie. 2010, p. 453 f.; auch: Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, p. 33 f.
From 1744 until the end of the 1752–53 season Kurz again performed in Vienna at the Kärntnertor Theatre, primarily staging his own plays. In 1752, Empress Maria Theresa issued the "Norma" edict as part of her reform policies. As early as 1747 efforts towards reforming Viennese theatre were underway in response to Johann Christoph Gottsched's reforms — his banishment of the Hanswurst (a traditional Austrian clown character) in favour of "regular" drama (i.e. scripted not improvised and without comic characters and their crude jokes). Haider-Pregler: Des sittlichen Bürgers Abendschule. 1980, pp. 269–350. The decree was issued on 17 February 1752 and explicitly targeted improvisational comedy as developed by Kurz - its addendum even stated that "all compositions by the so-called Bernardon [...] were banned for all time". Karl von Görner: Der Hans Wurst-Streit in Wien und Joseph von Sonnenfels. Konegen, Vienna 1884, p. 4 (source possibly uncertain). Kurz 'fled' after this "ban", Müller-Kampel: Verboten, ausgetreiben, vergessen. In: Edward Białek et al. (eds.): Literatur im Zeugenstand. 2002, p. 474. performing in Prague in 1753 and in Regensburg during the winter of 1753/1754. He returned to the Kärntnertor Theatre in 1754. Maria Theresa's decree had initially had little impact on theatres. Haider-Pregler: Des moraltlichen Bürgers Abendschule. 1980, p. 270. The "Bernardoniads" were too popular even in aristocratic circles and Maria Theresa's husband Franz Stephan of Lorraine, remained a patron of improvisational theatre. Müller-Kampel: Verboten, ausgetreiben, vergessen. In: Edward Białek et al. (Hrsg.): Literatur im Zeugenstand. 2002, pp. 470–474.
The peak of the popularity of Kurz's "Bernardoniads" and 'machine-comedies' at the Kärntnertortheater came between 1754 and 1760 Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, pp. 91–124. Most of his surviving plays are from this period, considered his artistic heyday. He collaborated with Joseph Haydn in 1751 and again in 1758 – that composer produced music for Der krumme Teufel, though the score for it is now lost. Andrea Brandner-Kapfer: Lebenslauf des Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz. In: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz: Eine ganz neue Komödie. 2010, pp. 462–464. Kurz's wife Franziska died on 14 July 1755 and on 15 April 1758 he married Theresina Morelli, an actress and dancer – she later played Rosalba, a role specifically written for her, alongside her husband as Bernardon.
From 1760 to 1764 Kurz was director of Prague's Theater an der Kotzen. In winter 1763-64 he made a guest appearance in Venice, before sporadically appearing in Prague, then in Pressburg and Nürnberg. He was then invited to Munich in 1765 and for a year directed the Residenztheater. In summer and autumn 1766 he made a guest appearance in Nürnberg before spending the following years appearing in Mainz, Frankfurt, Mannheim and Cologne. Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, pp. 124–175. He separated from his wife in 1768 and she took over direction of her own theatre troupe. They reconciled and then tried to re-establish themselves in Vienna, with Kurz briefly serving as the director of the Kärntnertortheater. Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, pp. 175–179.
From the 1760s onwards the decades-long 'Hanswurst dispute' was mainly waged in the press, but it also led to gradual reform of 'folk comedy'. Over the course of the dispute the theatrical ecosystem in Vienna had changed and improvisational comedy had become obsolete after the deaths of the great extemporisers, particularly Gottfried Prehauser and Friedrich Wilhelm Weiskern (1710–1768). Müller-Kampel: Hanswurst, Bernardon, Kasperl. 2003, p. 159. Thanks to Joseph von Sonnenfels's 1770 reorganisation of theatre censorship theatre came under state control - not only did scripts for 'regular' dramas have to be passed by the censor before being performed, but censors also came to the performances themselves to ensure the actors complied with the ban on improvisation. Haider-Pregler: Des sittlichen Bürgers Abendschule. 1980, pp. 345–348.
Kurz left Vienna in 1771 to act in Breslau and Danzig and the following year he moved to Warsaw, where he directed acting troupes. Few details survive on his last years, though after his retirement from the stage he is known to have managed the Warsaw Theatre and run a paper mill. He died alone in Vienna in 1784. Raab: Johann Joseph Felix von Kurz genannt Bernardon. 1899, pp. 179–184.
Works In addition to sixty-nine plays which survive, a further twelve works can be attributed to Kurz. Müller-Kampel: Verboten, vertrieben, vergessen. In: Edward Białek et al. (ed.): Literatur im Zeugenstand. 2002, p. 468. However, in some cases only the titles of the pieces and/or the arias for them have been handed down; very few were printed during his lifetime. Besides 'regular' comedies, or those later developed into 'regular' comedies, Kurz also wrote Die Getreue Prinzeßin Pumphia (The Faithful Princess Pumphia), a travesti of the 'Haupt- und Staatsaktion' (Main and State Action, the plays still dominating German travelling theatre at the time), and Der neue krumme Teufel (The New Crooked Devil), an "opera-comique" as the subtitle indicates, even though it mainly consists of dialogue. Müller-Kampel: Hanswurst, Bernardon, Kasperl. 2003, p. 40. Der neue krumme Teufel also includes a children's pantomime and an interlude and both plays exhibit the mixing and juxtaposition of elements as a compositional principle characteristic of Kurz's own brand of improvisational comedy.
Kurz achieved fame as an actor and playwright during his own lifetime, primarily through the role of Bernardon and the "Bernardoniade," a subgenre of extemporized magic burlesque. Müller-Kampel: Verboten, vertrieben, vergessen. In: Edward Białek et al. (ed.): Literatur im Zeugenstand. 2002, p. 468 In terms of theatre history, Kurz-Bernardon's 'total theatre' is considered the pinnacle of Viennese improvisational comedy and improvisational performance. Müller-Kampel: Hanswurst, Bernardon, Kasperl. 2003, p. 36. The "Bernardoniades" or machine-comedies have been handed down as scenarios with comic arias and songs. The scenarios allow the modern reader to make an approximate reconstruction of the performances, including details such as the stage design, the characters' appearance and sometimes also dialogue or sections of dialogue, along with instructions for improvised performance.