Cagliostro in Wien

Cagliostro in Wien (Cagliostro in Vienna) is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by F. Zell^[1] and Richard Genée. It premiered on 27 February 1875 at the Theater an der Wien, featuring Marie Geistinger and Alexander Girardi.

Reception

The premiere was highly successful, in no small part due to the audience favourite Alexander Girardi^[2] (1850–1918) as Blasoni. Another notable performer at the premiere was Marie Geistinger (1836–1903) who had created the role of Rosalinde in Strauss's Die Fledermaus. However, weaknesses in the libretto and—by Strauss's standards—the pallid music, meant the work could not garner the level of long-term public support of the composer's other works. These shortcomings were corrected in a version with a revised libretto by Gustav Quedenfeldt and music by Karl Tutein (who included themes from the Kaiser-Walzer) which premiered on 8 May 1941 in Danzig (Gdańsk).

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 27 February 1875 (Conductor: Johann Strauss II)
Empress Maria Theresa	soprano	Henriette Wieser
Marie Luise, Infanta of Spain
Baron Sebastian Schnucki, imperial custodian of morals	baritono	Alfred Schreiber
Count Cagliostro	baritone	Carl Adolf Friese
Lorenza, Italian street singer	soprano	Marie Geistinger
Feri von Lieven, Lieutenant
Frau Adamai
Annemarie, her niece
Teiglein, pastry cook, Annemarie's guardian
Blasoni, Count Cagliostro's aide	tenore	Alexander Girardi
Severin, owner of a funfair stall
Innkeeper of The Turk Sconce
The Hofmarschall
Beppo and Barberino, Count Cagliostro's aides
Ladies and gentlemen of the court, people, soldiers, police

Notable arias

• "Zigeunerkind, wie glänzt dein Haar" ("Gypsy child, how shiny your hair")
• "Die Rose erblüht, wenn die Sonne sie küsst" ("The rose will bloom when kissed by the sun")
• "Könnt' ich mit Ihnen fliegen durchs Leben" ("Cagliostro Waltz") ("Could I but fly with you through life")

Adaptations

Giuseppe Balsamo (Cagliostro)

Johann Strauss used material from his operetta for the following works:

• Cagliostro-Quadrille, Op. 369 (1875)
• Cagliostro-Walzer, Op. 370 (1875), waltz
• Hoch Österreich, Op. 371 (Hail Austria) (1875), march
• Bitte schön!, Op. 372 (If You Please!) (1875), French polka
• Auf der Jagd, Op. 373 (On the Hunt) (1875), quick polka
• Licht und Schatten, Op. 374 (Light and Shadow) (1875) polka

Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote an arrangement of the work, first performed on 13 April 1927 in Vienna.

References

Notes

1. F. Zell was the pen name of Camillo Walzel (1829–1895)
2. Elizabeth Forbes: "Girardi, Alexander", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 28 June 2008), http://www.grovemusic.com

Sources

• Amadeus Almanac, accessed 11 November 2008
• Reclams Operettenführer, Anton Würz (ed.), Stuttgart 1962

External links

• "Johann Strauss Jun. – Cagliostro in Wien" (in German). Planet-Vienna. Retrieved 10 July 2008. Plot summary