Gräfin Dubarry is an operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

 in three acts by Carl Millöcker to a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by F. Zell

Camillo Walzel

Camillo Walzel was an German librettist and theatre director, who wrote under the pseudonym F Zell.Walzel was born in Magdeburg. In his early years, he worked in his father lithographic factory, then studied in the Wiener Akademie der bildenden Künste, before joining the army...

 and Richard Genée

Richard Genée

Franz Friedrich Richard Genée was a Prussian born Austrian librettist, playwright, and composer.Genée was born in Danzig. One of his best known works was the libretto of Karl Millöcker's operetta Der Bettelstudent, which he co-wrote with Friedrich Zell .In 1876, Genée composed the operetta Der...

. The story concerns Madame du Barry

Madame du Barry

Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.-Early life:...

, the mistress of Louis XV, King of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Performance history

The operetta had its premiere on 31 October 1879

1879 in music

- Events :* December 31 - Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance debuts in New York City* Engelbert Humperdinck becomes the first winner of the Mendelssohn Award awarded by the Mendelssohn Stiftung of Berlin....

 at the Theater an der Wien

Theater an der Wien

The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...

, Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

.

Die Dubarry

A radically new version of the work, in nine scenes under the title Die Dubarry, was prepared by Theo Mackeben

Theo Mackeben

thumb|Relief from Mackeben's tombstoneTheo Mackeben, born 5 January 1897 in Preußisch Stargard, Westpreußen, died 10 January 1953 in Berlin, was a German pianist, conductor and composer, particularly of film music.- Life and career :...

 with music from the original Gräfin Dubarry as well as other works, and a new text was written by Paul Knepler, Ignaz Michael Welleminsky and E. M. Cremer. This was first given at the Admiralspalast

Admiralspalast

The Admiralspalast is a theatre in the Mitte district of Berlin, Germany, located on Friedrichstraße No. 101. Opened in 1910, it is one of the few preserved variety venues of the pre-World War II era in the city....

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 on 14 August 1931. According to Andrew Lamb, this introduced "alien structures and orchestration" compared with the original.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere cast, 31 October 1879 (Conductor: Carl Millöcker)	Die Dubarry cast, 14 August 1931 (Conductor: )
Marie Jeanne Bécu, a milliner, later Comtesse Dubarry	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...		Gitta Alpar Gitta Alpár Gitta Alpár , was a Hungarian-born opera and operetta soprano.Gitta Alpár was born in Budapest as Klopfer Regina. At an early age she commenced the study of singing and pianoforte at the Academy of Budapest...
René Lavallery, a painter	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...		Egon Brosig
Margot, a milliner	soprano		Edith Schollwer
Marquis de Brissac, her friend	tenor
Comte Dubarry	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...		Schnell
King Louis XV	baritone
Duc de Choiseul Étienne François, duc de Choiseul Étienne-François, comte de Stainville, duc de Choiseul was a French military officer, diplomat and statesman. Between 1758 and 1761, and 1766 and 1770, he was Foreign Minister of France and had a strong influence on France's global strategy throughout the period... , Chief Minister	spoken
Prince Soubise	spoken
Duc de Lazun	spoken
Radix de St. Foix	spoken
Baron Chamard	spoken
Lebell	spoken
Marschallin von Luxembourg	spoken
Lucille	spoken
Pierre	spoken
Madame Labille	spoken
Marianne Verrières	spoken
Claude Verrières	spoken
Abbé	spoken
Neighbour	spoken
Attendants, companions, servants, milliners, people of Paris (chorus)

Film version

A film version was made in Germany in 1951 by Georg Wildhagen, with Sari Barabas, Mathieu Ahlersmeyer, Willy Fritsch, Albert Lieven and Walter Müller.