Die Csárdásfürstin (The Gypsy Princess) -

Heia in the Mountains

Kálmán’s most successful operetta Die Csárdásfürstin was first performed at the Johann-Strauss Theatre in Vienna in 1915 - thirty years after Der Zigeunerbaron. The difference in period is immediately obvious in the more lavish orchestration and the difference in style in the more authentic Hungarian-gypsy idiom. The first vocal number is sung by the “csárdás princess” herself, the Budapest cabaret singer Sylvia Varescu, as a farewell to her public before leaving on a tour of America. A true example of the csárdás, it begins slowly and in nostalgic mood, with evocative wind solos, and then races off in a quick dance tempo stimulating a high-energy performance from both voice and orchestra.