About the work
A musical comedy in two acts by Wilhelm Kienzl, who also wrote the libretto in Upper Styrian dialect after motifs by Peter Rosegger. It premiered on 6 December 1916 at the Vienna Volksoper.
Plot
The story is set in the Ausseer region, from Shrove Tuesday to six days later in the year 1750. It centres on the innkeeper and mayor Stefan Holzer, his ward Vroni and her affection for the young miller Florian, framed by a village cast of townsfolk and farmers whose conflicts turn on a will and its conditions.
Cultural significance
Initially successful, the opera disappeared from stages after 1927. For Kienzl's 150th birthday, the Landestheater Linz revived it in 2007 in a production directed by Andreas Baesler.