About the work
Das Veilchen vom Montmartre is an operetta in three acts by Emmerich Kálmán with a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered on 21 March 1930 at Vienna's Johann Strauss Theatre under conductor Josef Holzer and was Kálmán's last stage work before the Nazi seizure of power.
Plot
In the artists' quarter of Montmartre, painter Raoul, composer Florimond and writer Henri help young Violetta break free from her exploitative guardian; while singer Ninon builds a career under a minister's patronage, Violetta steps in for her at the premiere and turns out to be a long-lost countess.
Cultural significance
The song "Heut' Nacht hab' ich geträumt von dir" outlived the operetta itself and was later interpolated into productions of Die Csárdásfürstin; the work is rarely staged in German-speaking countries today, though it has remained in the repertoire in Russia, Ukraine and Hungary.