| Emmerich Kálmán |
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Operettas
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Die Zirkusprinzessin (The Circus Princess) is an operetta in three acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán to a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 26 March 1926 and went on to 344 performances there.[1]
The plot revolves around a romantic intrigue with interpolated circus sequences. The mysterious "Mister X", a dashing circus performer, is hired by a disappointed suitor of Princess Fedora Palinska to pose as a nobleman and marry her. "Mister X" is in fact a nobleman, the disinherited nephew of a deceased prince. One of the work's most well-known arias, Zwei Märchenaugen (Two fairy-tale eyes), has been recorded by several famous tenors, including Fritz Wunderlich,[2] Charles Kullman,[3] and Richard Tauber.[4]
An English version, The Circus Princess, premiered in at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City on 25 April 1927 starring Guy Roberston and Desiree Tabor. The circus sequences in the New York production were particularly lavish, including equestrians, aerialists, and a famous clown of the day, Poodles Hanneford.[5]
| Role | Voice type | Premiere Cast, March 26, 1926 (Conductor: - ) |
|---|---|---|
| Fedja Palinski, Mr X | tenor | Hubert Marischka |
| Princess Fedora Palinska | soprano | Betty Fischer |
| Miss Mabel Gibson | soprano | Elsie Altmann |
| Toni Schlumberger | tenor | Fritz Steiner |
| Prinz Sergius Wladimir | baritone | |
| Count Sakusin | ||
| Lieutenant Petrovitsch | ||
| Director Stanislawski | bass | |
| Carla Schlumberger, hotel manager | contralto | |
| Samuel Pressburger | ||
| Gesellschaft, officers, circus people - chorus | ||