Boy or girl
| Work data | |
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| Title: | Boy or girl |
| Shape: | operetta |
| Original language: | German |
| Music: | Bruno Granichstaedten |
| Libretto : | Felix Dörmann, Adolf Altmann |
| Premiere: | November 13, 1908 |
| Place of premiere: | Vienna |
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Boy or Girl is an operetta in a prelude and two acts by the composer Bruno Granichstaedten ; for the libretto recorded Felix Dormann and Adolf Altmann responsible. The world premiere was on November 13, 1908 in the Johann Strauss Theater in Vienna .
action
- Prelude - In Fritz Ragan's salon
As a libertine , Fritz Ragan has led a dissolute life until now. Now he owes the moneylenders a lot of money: Karpel 80,000 kroner, Knicker 70,000 kroner and Ripp 120,000 kroner. This had lent him these sums solely due to the fact that he was the only relative of the old Prince Johann Georg Ragan who was entitled to inherit.
But he had married again and now the birth of a family owner is imminent. If it is a boy, Fritz Ragan does not inherit anything. A servant now reports the birth of a son and the moneylenders despair. Only banker Kühnemann tries to get his money back with a cunning plan.
A group of American millionaire daughters is expected to arrive in Biarritz and they want to look for aristocratic husbands in Europe. Fritz Ragan is supposed to travel to Biarritz with financial support and marry a rich American woman. Since Fritz doesn't know a way out of his precarious situation, he agrees to this plan. He says goodbye to his lover Mary and travels to Biarritz under Kühnemann's supervision.
- Act 1 - Hotel terrace in Biarritz
The Americans have arrived and banker Kühnemann has already found a suitable wife for Fritz in Miss Gwendolin. According to his investigations, she should receive a dowry of around $ 40 million. In reality, Miss Gwendolin is as poor as a church mouse. Kühnemann himself introduces Fritz to the American Gwendolin, but suddenly his lover Mary appears and tries to prevent this connection out of jealousy. However, Gwendolin and Fritz fall in love and Kühnemann learns that Gwendolin is poor. Fritz Ragan takes no account of his creditors, confesses his loved ones to Gwendolin and proposes to her.
- Act 2 - Musotti Circus
Fritz Ragan is forced to earn a living for himself and Gwendolin. That is why he accepted an engagement as a circus rider at the Musotti Circus. Kühnemann secretly travels after the two because he still hopes that the debt will be repaid. At her parents' request, Gwendolin should not marry Fritz, but the rich Mr. Roberts. When Mr. Roberts appears, he meets Mary, who informs him about the current events. At the end the old Prince Johann Georg appears and reinstates Fritz as a universal heir. It turned out that Prince Johann Georg's wife had been unfaithful to him and therefore her son was excluded from the princely succession as "illegitimate".
literature
- Bruno Granichstaedten: boy or girl. Operetta in one prelude and two acts . Weinberger, Leipzig 1908.
- Leo Melitz: Guide through the operettas . Globus-Verlag, Berlin 1917, pp. 23-24.