Skip to main content

Story: Classical musicians

Oscar Natzke

Video file

In this 1949 newsreel, Oscar Natzke (sometimes spelt Natzka) sings Mussorgsky's 'Song of the flea'. The text is taken from a scene in Goethe's play, Faust, where Mephistopheles (Satan) sings a lusty song about a king who lavishes attention on a flea in his court.

Using this item

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Weekly Review 405. National Film Unit, 1949

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Peter Walls, Classical musicians – Leading baritones and basses, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/45397/oscar-natzke (accessed 19 June 2026).

Story by Peter Walls, published 3 June 2014.