About the work
Der Zarewitsch is a three-act operetta with music by Franz Lehár and a libretto by Heinz Reichert and Bela Jenbach after the play of the same name by Gabriela Zapolska. Lehár wrote the piece as a vehicle for tenor Richard Tauber; it premiered on 16 February 1927 at the Deutsches Künstlertheater in Berlin, with Tauber and Rita Georg in the leading roles.
Plot
The young heir to the throne, Alexej, resists court life and the marriage arranged for him. The court secretly sends him Sonja, disguised as a Circassian girl, to win him over to love – and the two genuinely fall for each other. When the court tries to thwart the romance, Alexej and Sonja flee together to Naples, until news of the tsar's death forces Alexej to return to Russia and part from Sonja.
Cultural significance
With its unhappy ending and melancholy tone, the work marks Lehár's turn toward more serious, opera-like material in his later career. The "Volga Song" from the first act became one of his most widely performed numbers.