Staged at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna; (World Premiere) September 3rd, 1992 to April 25th, 1998 (with short breaks during summer). Producers: Vereinigte Bühnen Wien (United Stages of Vienna)
Dutch Premiere: November 21st, 1999 (until June 2001) at the Fortis Circustheater in Scheveningen (near Den Haag). Directed by Eddy Habbema; Produced by Joop van den Ende
German Premiere: March 22nd, 2001 (open end) at the Colosseum Theatre Essen, Germany. Directed by Eddy Habbema; Produced by Joop van den Ende
NOTE: This features the Original English Plot-Synopsis of the Souvenir Programme of the Production in Vienna. Both plot and musical numbers refer to the Original Production; For later productions (also Dutch and German Production), the order of the songs may be changed, new songs might be added and songs (both score and lyrics) may be rewritten.
Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, was born in 1837 and died in 1898. Her assassination by the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni was a crime heavy with symbolism, auguring the end of a cultural millennium.
Prologue (Prolog – Alle tanzten mit dem Tod)
- The nocturnal world of the dead and the dreamers – the cemetary of the past
Present time.
Lucheni / Voice of Judge, full EnsembleEven a hundred years after the deed, a JUDGE cross-examines the assassin LUCHENI who justifies his crime by stating that he had only obliged Elisabeth. He contends that she had been in love with Death. To prove his point, LUCHENI calls up Elisabeth’s dead contemporaries and brings to life again the lost world of the Habsburg Empire.
Suddenly DEATH is among them, an attractive, young man. He admits having been in love with Elisabeth. LUCHENI launches into his tale: a love story between the Empress and Death.
Act One
Scene One (Wie du)
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Scene Two (Schön, euch alle zu sehn)
- On the shore of Lake Starhemberg
Ludovika, Lucheni, Elisabeth, EnsembleA social gathering hosted by Elisabeth’s mother LUDOVIKA. The impending betrothal of Elisabeth’s sister HELENE to the Austrian Emperor is announced.
ELISABETH the tomboy shocks the high society with a circus act in the course of which she falls and, for the first time, comes face to face with DEATH.
Scene Three (Jedem gibt er das Seine)
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Scene Four (So wie man denkt…)
- Bad Ischl
Lucheni, Ludovika, Helene, Elisabeth, Sophie, Franz-JosephAugust 1853. It is SOPHIE’s wish that FRANZ-JOSEPH marries his cousin HELENE. However, when they meet at Bad Ischl to celebrate their engagement he falls in love with Helene’s sister, ELISABETH.
Scene Five (Nichts ist schwer)
- Between heaven and earth
Elisabeth, Franz-JosephMarch 13th, 1854. The two lovers are alone for the first time. FRANZ-JOSEPH warns his fiancée of the burden of his post, but she is blinded by love. But she hasn’t got a choice anyway.
Scene 6 (Alle Fragen sind gestellt)
- St. Augustine Church in Vienna
Lucheni / EnsembleThe wedding. LUCHENI depicts it as the beginning of the end of the Habsburg Empire. DEATH himself rings the wedding bell.
Scene Seven (Der letzte Tanz)
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Scene Eight (Eine Kaiserin muss glänzen, Ich gehör nur mir)
- Elisabeth’s apartments at Laxenburg Palace
Sophie, Ladies in waiting, Elisabeth, Franz-Joseph
ElisabethAt the Court in Vienna, the young Empress encounters a world hostile to her nature. Her ladies in waiting are instructed to break her personality and to keep her in her golden cage. Her mother-in-law subjects her to the rigours of the Spanish court etiquette. FRANZ-JOSEPH does not provide the moral support she had hoped for.
Scene Nine (Die Schatten werden länger)
- Stations of a Marriage
Lucheni, Sophie, Elisabeth, Franz-Jospeh, Death, EnsembleELISABETH feels abandoned. Her melancholy turns into hatred when her mother-in-law takes away her new-born children. Sensing the opportunity time, DEATH enters the scene again to claim the life of one of ELISABETH’S children.
Scene Ten (Die fröhliche Apokalypse)
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Scene Eleven (Elisabeth, mach auf / Elisabeth, sei nicht verzweifelt)
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Scene Twelve (Milch)
- Marketplace in Vienna
Lucheni / EnsembleThe supply of milk has run out – Lucheni further excites the ugly mood of the people, who are already calling for a revolution, by alleging that “she”, i.e., Elisabeth, is using up all the milk for her beauty baths.
Scene Thirteen (Uns’re Kaiserin soll sich wiegen, Ich will dir nur sagen / Ich gehör nur mir Reprise
- Elisabeth’s dressing room
Ladies in waiting, Franz-Joseph, Elisabeth
Elisabeth / Franz-JosephElisabeth does actually pamper her beauty in the luxurious fashion. The Emperor loves her, and accepts the ultimatum.
Act Two
Scene One (Kitsch!)
- In front of Budo Cathedral
Lucheni, EnsembleElisabeth’s greatest triumph is the reconciliation of the Emperor with the Hungarians. Amidst general rejoicing Lucheni states that Elisabeth, by supporting Hungary’s struggle for independence, has confirmed the fall of the Habsburg Empire. The new era will belong to nationalism. Death drives up in his carriage.
Scene Two (Mama, wo bist du)
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Scene Three (Nichts, nichts, gar nichts)
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Scene Four (Wir oder sie)
- Archduchess Sophie’s Drawing Room
Sophie / Court CamarillaElisabeth’s mother-in-law Sophie and the court Camarilla, divested of its previous influence, debate how Elisabeth’s hold on the Emperor could be broken. They decide to try and make him deviate from his faithfulness.
Scene Five (Nur kein Genieren)
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Scene Six (Die letzte Chance)
- Elisabeth’s gymnasium in Schönbrunn
Ladies in waiting, Elisabeth, Death as a doctor, DeathDEATH reveals to ELISABETH that her husband has infected her with the “certain malady”. Elisabeth is shocked but not at all prepared to give in to DEATH. On the contrary, she considers this mishap to be her chance to finally enforce her freedom from all obligations.
Scene Seven (Nie kommt sie zur Ruhe, Jagd)
- Restless Years
Lucheni, Elisabeth, Ladies in waiting, Rudolf, Franz-JosephELISABETH travels with her Retinue through Europe, interrupting her journeys only with a few short stays in Vienna. Her husband, tormented by longing and remorse, waits for her in vain. LUCHENI suspects that ELISABETH is also trying to run away from getting older.
Scene Eight (Die Schatten werden länger)
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Scene Nine (Wie du – reprise)
- Loggia of a villa on Corfu
Elisabeth / MaxBy spiritualistic means ELISABETH tries to establish contact with the deceased. Her FATHER appears to her. It comes as a revelation to her that she will never be free.
Scene Ten (Hass)
- On the Opernring in Vienna
Lucheni / full EnsembleIt is the dawn of a new era dominated by the Teutomania of the anti-Semitic group flocking around Schönerer. In a public demonstration the voice of fascism is already heard.
Scene Eleven (Wenn ich dein Spiegel wär)
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Scene Twelve (Mayerlingwalzer, Totenklage)
- Mayerling
Elisabeth, EnsembleDEATH waits for RUDOLF at Mayerling. Rudolf’s suicide shakes ELISABETH’s self-confidence, shattering her to the core. Her death-wish becomes overpowering. But now DEATH rejects her.
Scene Thirteen (Mein neues Sortiment, Boote in der Nacht)
- A terrace at Cape Martin
Lucheni, Elisabeth, Franz-JosephFRANZ-JOSEPH tries once more to dissuade ELISABETH from her restless way of life. The couple resigns itself to the fact that love cannot heal all wounds.
Only after a further restless decade has passed DEATH takes pity on the Empress. The final dance begins.
Scene Fourteen (Alle Fragen sind gestellt)
- On deck of the sinking world
Franz-Joseph / Death / Lucheni / EnsembleIn a nightmare showing him the fall of the House of Habsburg, FRANZ-JOSEPH is confronted by his invincible rival. The confrontation conjures up terrifying visions of the doom of the Imperial House. FRANZ-JOSEPH tries to save ELISABETH but DEATH is faster. He throws the murder weapon towards LUCHENI.
Epilogue (Der Schleier fällt)
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