Gräfin Mariza | Operette in drei Akten von Emmerich Kálmán

Guest performance at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern

Music full of glowing passion and a plot peppered with wit and sophistication - that is Emmerich Kálmán's "Countess Mariza", the composer's second great success after "Csárdásfürstin". The operetta about the beautiful countess was premiered at the Theater an der Wien in 1924 and quickly became a worldwide success with catchy tunes such as "Einmal möchte ich wieder tanzen", "Komm mit nach Varasdin" and "Sag meine Lieb, sag ja". Waltzes and Csárdás, sentiment and humour as well as dance rhythms from the 1920s characterize Emmerich Kálmán's music. He embodies the Austro-Hungarian musical tradition in his successful operettas like no other composer. It is not only the catchy music, but also the amusing plot that has made audiences love "Countess Mariza" for 100 years.

Countess Mariza, who is as attractive as she is rich, can hardly save herself from annoying suitors. But she is certain that they are after her money above all else. So she resorts to various tricks to escape the world of men, for example inventing a fiancé called Baron Koloman Zsupán. She wants to celebrate the supposed engagement at her Hungarian country estate - and is completely taken aback when the fictitious baron suddenly appears before her. Who could have guessed that this man really exists? But just at this point, she meets Tassilo, the new caretaker of her castle, and she simply can't get him out of her mind. Tassilo is actually an impoverished young baron who has fallen into poverty through no fault of his own. He has taken up work incognito in order to finance his younger sister's education. The countess is attracted to him, but is irritated by his lack of subservience. Her friends think she should punish Tassilo with condescension. Meanwhile, the fortune teller Manja predicts that Mariza will soon lose her heart. And things turn out as they must in an operetta ...

But as with every good operetta, there is a double bottom. Kálmán, the melancholy master of the light muse, who knew how to combine laughter and tears so effectively, also reflects in this bittersweet story the social abysses of its time. They brought billions to some and abject poverty to others. "Countess Mariza" is also Kálmán's most personal operetta. As a child, he experienced how his father, a merchant, had to declare bankruptcy and the family lost all their possessions. Like his father, Kálmán was also forced to give up all his possessions in 1938 when he had to leave Austria because of his Jewish ancestry.