Leichte Kavallerie
| Leichte Kavallerie | |
|---|---|
| Operetta by Franz von Suppé | |
 The composer of the operetta, c. 1885 | |
| Translation | Light Cavalry |
| Librettist | Karl Costa |
| Language | German |
| Premiere | 21 March 1866 Carltheater, Vienna |
Leichte Kavallerie (Light Cavalry) is an operetta in two acts by Franz von Suppé, with a libretto by Karl Costa. It was first performed in the Carltheater, Vienna, on 21 March 1866.
The original work is set in an 19th-century Austrian village where several love intrigues and the discovery of a father-daughter relationship are accompanied by the arrival of a regiment of hussars. In 1934, Hans Bodenstedt completely rewrote the operetta. It was set in the 18th century amid the court intrigues of a Baron and his Hungarian Countess lover, whose ballet company is referred to as the "light cavalry".
While much of the operetta remains in relative obscurity, the Light Cavalry Overture is one of Suppé's best known works. The music from the operetta was used as the soundtrack of a film of the same name in 1935.[1]
Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 21 March 1866 (Conductor: –) |
|---|---|---|
| Bums, the mayor | bass | Louis Grois |
| Apollonia, his wife | contralto | Minna Walter |
| Jimber Pankraz, a grocer | spoken | Josef Matras |
| Eulalia, his wife | mezzo-soprano | Bachmann |
| Weissling, the baker | spoken | |
| Dorothea, his daughter | soprano | |
| Kitt, a glazier | spoken | |
| Regina, his daughter | soprano | |
| Vilma, an orphan | soprano | Karoline Mayer |
| Hermann, Vilma's lover | tenor | Albert Telek |
| Janos, a hussar | bass | Karl Treumann |
| Stefan, a hussar | Franz Eppich | |
| Carol, a hussar | Voll |