Die Herzogin von Chicago (The Duchess of Chicago) is an operetta in two acts, a prologue, and an epilogue. The music was composed by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán with a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien on April 5, 1928, and played for 372 performances. The work was presented in out-of-town tryouts in Newark, New Jersey and Springfield, Massachusetts by the Shuberts in 1929, but it did not make it to Broadway. The piece was forgotten until 1997, when the Lubo Opera Company performed it in concert in New York, after which Light Opera Works of Illinois performed the work in 1998 in a fully staged version with a new translation by Philip Kraus and Gregory Opelka. In 1999, Richard Bonynge made a recording of the work, which revived international interest in it.
The operetta mingles jazz elements and other contemporary dance music with musical elements traditionally associated with Viennese waltz-opera and anticipates such works as White Horse Inn and Paul Abraham's Victoria and Her Hussar. The score also incorporates traditions from Kálmán's native Hungary. The libretto has a relatively modern satirical edge and draws on the political Kabarett that was a feature of radical Vienna, Berlin and Munich at the time. The piece directly addresses the impact of America and its social revolution, with its commentary on current affairs as seen in the jazz scene in Chicago. The piece reveals much about early 20th century European culture and European intellectual attitudes toward Americans, and American culture. The setting and score call for 1920s flapper costumes, jazz and the Charleston.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, April 5, 1928 (Conductor:) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| King Pankraz XXVII of Sylvaria | tenor | Joseph Egger | |
| Prince Sandor Boris, heir to the throne of Sylvaria | lyric tenor | Hubert Marischka | |
| Miss Mary Lloyd, from Chicago | lyric soprano | Rita Georg | |
| James Bondy, Mary Lloyd's secretary | buffo tenor | Richard Waldemar | |
| Princess Rosemarie Sonjuschka, from Morenia | soprano | Elsie Altmann | |
| Mr. Benjamin Lloyd, Mary Lloyd's father | speaking role | ||
| Count Bojazowitsch, Finance minister of Sylvaria | tenor | Hans Moser (actor) | |
| State minister of Sylvaria | tenor | ||
| Countess Dobruja | actress | ||
| Guests, officers, girls, musicians, trumpeters, servants | |||
The story revolves around Miss Mary Lloyd, who makes a bet with her fawning circle of girlfriends, the "Eccentric Young Ladies Club", as to which of them can buy the most expensive thing in Europe, because they are so wealthy that they can buy anything. Meanwhile, back in the bankrupt state of Sylvaria, Prince Sándor Boris and his ministers are trying to keep the natives happy while the king is off to Monte Carlo. Then, as now, there is nothing like a royal wedding to please the locals. The prince makes a marriage pact with his old pal, Princess Rosemarie of Morenia, but there is no love between them.
Mary arrives in Budapest, where she meets who she thinks is the prince, while the real prince has been pretending to be an aide-de-camp. She, of course, prefers the aide, and there is chemistry between them at the nightclub, though the prince prefers Viennese waltzes, and Mary prefers the Charleston. Later, in Sylvaria, Mary arranges to buy the royal palace, and is shocked to learn the true identity of her friend the "aide". She decides that, having bought the palace, she must also have "the prince that goes with it".
Bondy and the prince's promised bride fall in love and, despite themselves, Mary and the prince do so, too, though they still debate the relative merits of their favorite dances. But when the prince reads a letter that Mary wrote to her father, he gets the impression that she is merely buying him, and goes back to his older engagement.
Back in Budapest, we learn that Bondy and Princess Rosemarie have eloped. The King of Sylvaria arrives with two Parisian floozies and tries to romance Mary (Sylvaria needs her money), but she, though amused, is not interested. But everything is saved when an American producer announces that he wants to make a movie about Mary and the prince, but cannot do so until the story has a genuine, American-style happy ending. The two compromise on a slow foxtrot.