Der Zarewitsch - “Einer wird kommen” (One will come)

Der Zarewitsch dates from the period when, though clearly old-fashioned in comparison with the jazz-influenced songs and dances imported from America, Lehár’s operettas were sustained in their popularity by the regular participation of Richard Tauber in the leading roles: Du bist mein ganzes Herz (“You are my heart’s delight”) from Lehár’s Das Land des Lächelns was his greatest success of all. The first performance of Der Zarewitsch in Vienna in 1927, with Tauber as the Tsarevich and Jarmila Novotna as Sonja, was broadcast by now fewer than 120 radio companies. Set in St Petersburg at the end of the 19th century, it is a peculiar story about a Russian prince who, though he dislikes women, is going to have to marry for political reasons. In order to break him in gently the Grand Duke secretly arranges matters so that the Tsarevich gets to know a slim young dancer disguised - so that he won’t immediately reject her - as a Circassian officer. Einer wird kommen is what Sonja sings to herself as she wonders what the prince will be like and whether her rather dangerous mission will be successfully accomplished. In the end it is and it isn’t.