Cagliostro in Wien


Cagliostro in Wien is an operetta in three acts by Johann Strauss II to a libretto by F. Zell 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 as Blasoni. Another notable performer at the premiere was Marie Geistinger, 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 which premiered on 8 May 1941 in Danzig.

Notable arias

  • "Zigeunerkind, wie glänzt dein Haar"
  • "Die Rose erblüht, wenn die Sonne sie küsst"
  • "Könnt' ich mit Ihnen fliegen durchs Leben"

Adaptations

Johann Strauss used material from his operetta for the following works:
Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote an arrangement of the work, first performed on 13 April 1927 in Vienna.