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Overview
Synopsis
Sándor Barinkay has returned home to his family estate after spending his life working as an animal trainer in a performing troop. While dealing with the paperwork with Count Carnero, Barinkay finds that a lot has been going on in his absence; gypsies have moved onto his land, and the local pig farmer, Zsupan, has expanded his enterprises there as well. Barinkay wants an easy life, so he offers to marry Zsupan’s daughter Arsena in exchange for them using the land. Arsena has other ideas, as she is already in love with Ottokar, the son of her governess, Mirabella (and, as it turns out, Count Carnero).
When the gypsy fortune-teller, Czipra, announces that Barinkay is their foretold leader, he is proclaimed ‘Der Zigeuenerbaron’ , ‘The Gypsy Baron’. With this new title, he offers again to marry Arsena, and is rejected again. Concerned with having a wife and finally settling down, he then chooses Saffi, Czipras’ daughter. The two fall in love, and vow their marriage to nature and the sky. Unfortunately, that is not official enough for Count Carnero, and he requests that the legal requirements be fulfilled. Another revelation from Czipra makes this impossible: Saffi is actually a princess, and the daughter of a Turkish Pasha. She is too far above Barinkay’s station for him to marry her.
Barinkay gives up and joins the army to fight the war in Spain, along with several other men who are swept up by the recruiting troops that pass through the town. Several years later, the men are celebrating a great victory in the war. For his bravery, Barinkay is rewarded with a title, and can finally marry Saffi.
Strauss’s Der Zigeunerbaron is a true gem of operetta, with music of the quality found in his earlier work Die Fledermaus, and a wonderful array of exotic characters getting themselves into hilarious situations.
Show Information
- Music
- Johann Strauss II
- Libretto
- Ignaz Schnitzer
- Category
- Operetta
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1885
- Genres
- Comedy
- Settings
- Period, Multiple Settings
- Time & Place
- 18th century, Hungary, Vienna, 1741
- Cast Size
- medium
- Orchestra Size
- Large
- Dancing
- Some Dance
- Licensor
- None/royalty-free
- Ideal For
- College/University, Professional Opera, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Adult, Mature Adult, Young Adult, Elderly, Child, Early Teen, Late Teen Characters, Medium Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Soprano |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor, Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Mezzo-Soprano, Contralto |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Tenor |
|
|
Featured |
Male |
Baritone, Bass |
|
|
Ensemble |
Either Gender |
Spoken, Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, Contralto |
Songs
Act One In the Temeser Banat, a village in front of a castle.
Overture
Introduction
‘25. Juli, zwanzig Kilometer vor Temesvar’ - Carnero
No. 1 Chorus ‘Das wär kein rechter Schifferknecht’ - Ottokar, Czipra, Chorus (Boatmen)
Scene 1
‘Jeden Tag Müh ung Plag’ - Zsupan, Ottokar, Czipra, Carnero
Scene 2
‘Alles das, dieses herrliche’ - Carnero, Barinkay
No. 2 Couplet ‘Als flotter Geist’ - Barinkay, Chorus
‘Changeur und Prestididadö’ - Carnero, Barinkay
Scene 3
‘Nachdem sich meine Augen’ - Carnero, Barinkay, Czipra
No. 3 Melodrama and Scene ‘So täuschte mich die Ahnung nicht’ - Czipra, Saffi, Barinkay, Carnero, Zsupan, Chorus
Czipras’ Prophecy ‘Bald wird man dich viel umwerben’ - Czipras
‘Einen Schatz, ein Kleinod hätte ich verloren?’ - Carnero
Scene 4
Zsupan’s couplets ‘Ja, das Schreiben und das Lesen’ - Zsupan, Carnero, Barinkay, Chorus
‘Also Ihr seid der erste Sauzüchter im Land?’ - Barinkay, Zsupan, Carnero
Scene 5
‘Da ist sie schon!’ - Zsupan, Barinkay, Mirabella, Ottokar, Carnero
No. 4 Mirabella’s Couplet ‘Just sind es vierundzwanzig Jahre’ - Mirabella, Chorus
‘Bum, und dann fiel ich um’ - Mirabella, Carnero, Barinkay, Ottokar
Scene 6
No. 5 Ensemble ‘Dem Freier naht die Braut - Arsena, Barinkay, Zsupan, Carnero, Mirabella, Chorus of Maidens, Chorus
‘Nachdem der Kuchen’ - Carnero, Zsupan, Barinkay, Arsena, Mirabella, Ottokar
No. 5a Sortie ‘Ein Falter schwirrt ums Licht’ - Arsena
No. 5b Nachspiel ‘Hochzeitskuchen’ - Chorus (Maidens)
Scene 7
‘Da steh’, verlassen’ - Barinkay
No. 6 Zigeunerlied (Gypsy song) ‘So elend und so treu’ - Saffi, Barinkay
‘Ich kenne dieses Lied’ - Barinkay, Czipra, Carnero
Scene 8
No. 7 Finale I ‘Arsena, Arsena’ - Saffi, Arsena, Czipra, Mirabella, Barinkay, Ottokar, Zsupan, Carnero, Chorus
Scene 9
(Finale cont.) Chorus ‘Dschingrah - dschingrah!’ - Barinkay, Saffi, Czipra, Chorus of Gypsies
Scene 10
‘Nun zu des bösen Nachbars Haus!’ - Barinkay
(Finale cont.) ‘Herr Schwienefürst - ich bin es bloß’ - Barinkay, Saffi, Czipra, Zsupan, Carnero, Arsena, Mirabella, Ottokar, Gypsy chorus, Zsupan’s people
Act Two - A gypsy village in Banat
Entr’acte
Scene 1
No. 8. Terzett ‘Mein Aug’ bewacht’ - Saffi, Czipra, Barinkay ‘In jener Nacht’ - Carnero, Czipra, Saffi, Barinkay
No. 9. Terzett ‘Ein Greis ist mir im Traum erschienen - Saffi, Czipra, Barinkay
‘Hört auf! Pscht!!’ - Barinkay, Saffi, Czipra
Schatz-Walzer (Sweetheart- Waltz) ‘Ha seht, es winkt, es blinkt, es klingt!’ - Barinkay, Saffi, Czipra
‘Schließlich dämmerte der Morgen’ - Carnero
Scene 2
No. 10. Ensemble ‘Auf, Auf, vorbei is die Nacht’ - Pali, Gypsy chorus, Carnero
Scene 3
‘Hü – ho! Aus dem Weg, ihr Kröten!’ - Zsupan, Carnero, Pair of Gypsies, Child
Scene 4
‘Was gibt`s? Was ist los?’ - Zsupan, Carnero, Mirabella, Arsena, Ottokar, Saffi, Barinkay, Czipra, a policeman
No. 11. Duet ‘Wer uns getraut’ - Saffi, Barinkay, Chorus
‘Also Dompfaff und Nachtigall’ - Carnero, Barinkay
No. 12. Sittenkommission (The Moral’s Commission) Couplets ‘Nur keusch und rein’ - Carnero, Mirabella, Zsupan, Chorus
‘Na, was sagt Ihr jetzt?’ - Carnero, Barinkay, Ottokar, Arsena, Zsupan
Scene 5
‘Guten Morgen, Kinder!’ - Homonay, Carnero, Zsupan, Ottokar, Recruitment troops (Werbertruppe)
No.13 Werberlied (Recruiting song) ‘Her die Hand’ - Homonay, Chorus
‘Hör ich die Kriegsgesänge, wird mir die Brust so enge!’ - Barinkay, Carnero, a Gypsy, Czipra, Saffi, Homonay
No. 14 Finale II ‘Noch eben in Gloria’ - Saffi, Czipra, Mirabella, Arsena, Barinkay, Ottokar, Carnero, Homonay, Zsupan, Chorus
Act Three - Vienna
Entr’acte
Scene 1
‘So voll Fröhlichkeit gibt es weit und breit’ - Carnero, Mirabella
Scene 2
‘Arsena, hier sind wir!’ - Mirabella, Arsena, Carnero
No 15. Couplet ‘Ein Mädchen hat es gar nicht gut’ - Arsena, Mirabella, Carnero
Scene 3
‘Wahrhaftig, die Kleine weiß mehr wie zuviel!’ - Carnero, Mirabella, Arsena, Homonay
Scene 4
No 16. March-Couplet with Chorus ‘Von des Tajos Strand’ - Zsupan, Chorus
‘Komm in die Arme deines Heldenvaters!’ - Zsupan, Arsena, Mirabella, Carnero
Scene 5
No 17. Entrance march ‘Hurra, die Schlacht mitgemacht’ - Barinkay, Ottokar, Zsupan, Chorus
‘Huhu – Ottokar! Vivat!’ - Mirabella, Carnero, Homonay, Gypsies, Barinkay, Zsupan,
No 18. Finale III ‘Heiraten, Vivat’ - Saffi, Czipra, Mirabella, Arsena, Barinkay, Ottokar, Homonay, Zsupan, Chorus
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
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Guide Written By:
Wendy Silvester
Singer and vocal coach based in the UK.