About the work
Der Revisor is a comic opera in five acts by Werner Egk, who also wrote the libretto after Nikolai Gogol's comedy of the same name (1836). It premiered on 9 May 1957 at the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen as part of the Schwetzingen Festival, conducted by Egk himself.
Plot
In a Russian provincial town, word spreads that a government inspector is travelling incognito. The frightened officials mistake a passing impostor, Khlestakov, for the feared inspector and shower him with bribes and attention – until a letter reveals the mistake just as the real inspector's arrival is announced.
Cultural significance
Egk condensed Gogol's roughly twenty characters into thirteen singing roles and added a danced dream sequence in which the mayor's wife and daughter court the impostor. The premiere was unusually successful for a contemporary opera and quickly travelled to numerous other stages in Germany and Europe.