Marinka at Komische Oper Berlin

The double suicide of the 30-year-old Austrian heir apparent, Rudolf, and his lover Mary Vetsera – who was 13 years younger than him – at Mayerling Castle near Vienna in 1889 is known as the »tragedy of Mayerling«. It is not only the source of many a legend, but has also served as the template for countless books and films. Yet it hardly seems a suitable subject for an operetta, unless ... Unless the tragedy was not really a tragedy at all, but instead a love story with a happy end! At least, that is what the crown prince's loyal coachman reports. The coachman Josef Bratfisch (a real historic figure) was not only a witness to, and messenger of love for, the passionate affair between Rudolf and the very young Baroness Mary Vetsera, known as Marinka – he also reported of the fatherly understanding shown by Kaiser Franz Josef, who grants his son Rudolf a life together with his beloved Marinka, and to this end tells a lie to posterity: the »tragedy of Mayerling«!

With Marinka, which he composed during his exile in America, the 62-year-old Kálmán charted new musical waters whilst remaining thematically connected to his long-lost old homeland of the Austria-Hungarian dual monarchy. Songs such as »Only One Touch of Vienna«, »If I Never Waltz Again« and »Old Man Danube« ingeniously combine in words and music the old world and the new, operetta and musical. Because the orchestration of the piece has been lost, Marinka will appear in new orchestral splendour during its European première some 70 years after its creation.