Der lustige Krieg

Der lustige Krieg (The Merry War) is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 25 November 1881 (Conductor: Johann Strauss II)
Violetta, Countess Lomelli, a widow	soprano	Caroline Finaly
Artemisia, Princess of Massa-Carrara	contralto	Rosa Streitmann
Else Groot	soprano
Balthasar Groot, her husband, a tulip merchant from Holland	baritone
Marchese Sebastiano	tenor	Alexander Girardi
Colonel Umberto Spinola	tenor
Riccardo Durazzo	baritone
Fortunato Franchetti	bass-baritone
Biffi	tenor
Pamfilio	baritone
First lady	soprano
Second lady	mezzo-soprano
Third lady	contralto
First commissioner	tenor
Second commissioner	bass
Colonel van Scheelen	spoken
Officers and their wives, soldiers and people (chorus)

Synopsis

Place: The garrisoned Mediterranean city of Massa.

Time: First part of the 18th century

It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game of love between Colonel Umberto Spinola, the commander-in-chief of the Genoese army, and the widowed Countess Violetta. Despite the name of the operetta, there is no fighting or bloodshed in the 'war'.

Recordings

Johann Strauss: Der lustige Krieg, ORF Radio-Symphonie Orchester, Wiener Jeunesse-Chor, Wiener Motettenchor

• Conductor: Ulf Schirmer
• Principal singers: Eva Mei, Jorma Silvasti, Daphne Evangelatos, Jörg Schneider, Paul Armin Edelmann, Birgid Steinberger
• Recording date:
• Label: ORF CD240

References

Notes

Sources

• Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Der lustige Krieg". Almanacco Amadeus (Italian).