was followed by Sigmund Romberg and Rudolph Friml. Nevertheless, American operetta largely gave way, by the end of World War I, to musicals, such as the Princess Theatre musicals, and revues, followed by the musicals of Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and others. Another notable operetta in English is Candide by Leonard Bernstein. It was advertised as a “comic operetta.” Candide’s score in some ways was typical for its announced genre with some waltzes, but Bernstein added the schottische, gavotte, and other dances, and also entered the opera house with the aria “Glitter and Be Gay” Operetta in Italian Operetta was the first imported vocal genre in Italy. Since the 1860s, French and Viennese composers such as Offenbach, Hervé, Suppé, Strauss Jr and Lehár have significantly influenced the operatic tradition of Italy. The widespread popularity of foreign operetta in Italy reached its climax at the turn of the century, in particular with the success of La vedova allegra, which premiered in Milan in 1907. Italian operetta composers tended to stretch the definition of an "operetta" more than other nations in order to fit the beauty of Italian Romantic opera style. An example would be Giacomo Puccini, who developed his work in the realistic verisimo style, and would compose "operettas in three acts". Other notable composers of Italian operetta include Vincenzo Valente, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Pasquale Mario Costa, Pietro Mascagni, Carlo Lombardo, Enrico Toselli, Virgilio Ranzato and Giuseppe Pietri. Reception and Controversy The audiences of operetta during the 1860s and 1870s are described as rowdy and loud. Operetta was considered one of the major controversies about Italian music and culture between the 1860s and the 1920s. During that period, strong nationalistic undertones in Italy strived to unify its national identity. Recognizing operetta as a foreign genre, operetta was perceived as an art form that would contaminate Italian opera or illegitimately undermine its primacy on the stage. It was not until the early twentieth century that Italian composers systematically engaged in writing operetta. See also Comic opera List of operetta composers Musical theatre Operetta film Zarzuela References Informational notes Citations Bibliography Further reading Bordman, Gerald (1981) American Operetta. New York: Oxford University Press. Clarke, Kevin (2007) Glitter and be Gay: Die authentische Operette und ihre schwulen Verehrer. Hamburg: Männerschwarm Verlag.(German) Ganzl, Kurt (2001) The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre (3 Volumes). New York: Schirmer Books. Goulet, Charles (1981) Sur la scène et