The Circus Princess at Komische Oper Berlin

As always in the run-up to Christmas, we this year usher in a resounding operetta sensation by Emmerich Kálmán! This time it is diseuse Désirée Nick who, in the role of head animal tamer, presents the 90-minute-long programme of the Stanislawski circus in her accustomed cheeky manner. And conductor Stefan Soltesz takes on the role of the (sound) magician who has the knack of wringing ever-new effects from Kálmán's score.

Prince Sergius Wladimir takes his own form of revenge on the Russian Princess Fedora Palinski for rejecting him: he introduces the celebrated and mysterious circus artist Mister X to her as Prince Korossow. And as hoped, the princess does indeed fall passionately in love with the charming prince. Prince Wladimir takes his game right to the edge and urges the princess to marry Korossow, only to mock her on the day of the wedding as the bride of a circus acrobat, as a »circus princess«. Yet what neither Fedora nor Prince Wladimir realises is that Mister X, alias Prince Korossow, is in fact a Russian prince whose fate took a tragic turn due to none other than Fedora...

Following on from The Yankee Princess and Countess Maritza, the dream team of Kálmán-Brammer-Grünwald was able to achieve another global hit with The Circus Princess, which just two months after its celebrated première in Vienna in 1926 was also able to take the Metropol Theatre (what is today the Komische Oper Berlin) by storm. Kálmán lovers can feast their ears on soulful melodies such as »Two fairytale eyes« and »One day my time will come«, and numbers which evoke the world of the circus, such as »The little girls in tights«.