About the work
Carl Zeller's operetta in three acts was premiered in 1891 at the Theater an der Wien and, alongside Johann Strauss's "Die Fledermaus", is the most-performed work of Vienna's Golden Operetta era. The libretto by Moritz West and Ludwig Held is set not in Viennese salons but in a Palatinate village of the 18th century — a deliberate departure from urban flair that made the work especially popular in rural areas.
Plot
The Tyrolean bird-seller Adam comes to a village in the Electoral Palatinate to bring birds to his fiancée Christel. Christel, who works as a postwoman, hopes to secure Adam a position with the Elector. Meanwhile the Elector prefers to spend his time hunting rather than in the marriage bed — his consort Marie comes to the village incognito and gets to know Adam. Through mix-ups and courtly intrigues, Adam's fidelity to Christel falls under suspicion and a quarrel ensues. In the end the misunderstandings dissolve, Adam receives his court post, and the Electress reconciles Christel with her bridegroom.
Cultural significance
Der Vogelhändler established the genre of the "rural operetta" as a counterpart to the Viennese salon world and influenced works such as "Der fidele Bauer" and "Das Dreimäderlhaus". The aria "Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol" became a folk song and belongs to the core repertoire of Austrian folk singers. To this day the work is performed above all at German and Austrian municipal theatres and is regarded as a showpiece for characterful tenors and resolute soubrettes. Several film adaptations, most recently in 1962 with Erika Köth, have made the work known beyond the operetta stage.