About the work
Der Bettelstudent (The Beggar Student) is an operetta in three acts by Carl Millöcker to a libretto by F. Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée, drawing on motifs from Victorien Sardou's "Les Noces de Fernande" and Edward Bulwer-Lytton's "The Lady of Lyons". It premiered on 6 December 1882 at the Theater an der Wien.
Plot
Colonel Ollendorf, the governor of Kraków, is publicly humiliated by the proud Countess Laura and takes revenge by having the penniless prisoner Symon Rymanowicz pose as a Polish prince and become engaged to her, with his fellow prisoner Jan Janicki posing as his secretary. Symon genuinely falls in love with Laura, and the deception nearly unravels at the wedding — until Jan turns out to be Count Opalinski, secretly leading an uprising against Saxon rule. When the uprising succeeds, Symon too is ennobled, clearing the way for his marriage to Laura.
Cultural significance
Der Bettelstudent became Millöcker's greatest stage success: between 1896 and 1921 it ranked among the four most-performed operettas in the German-speaking world, with 4,940 productions. Ollendorf's entrance song about his wounded honor and the duet "Mit der Liebe Fessel binden" remain famous today.