About the work
Die Herzogin von Chicago (The Duchess of Chicago) is an operetta by Emmerich Kálmán with a prologue, two acts and an epilogue, to a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald, premiered on 5 April 1928 at Vienna's Theater an der Wien.
Plot
American millionaire's daughter Mary Lloyd bets that she can marry a real prince before her birthday and travels to the fictional Balkan state Sylvaria, where she falls for the impoverished crown prince; he initially detests her taste for jazz, until the "old" and "new" worlds are finally reconciled.
Cultural significance
Kálmán pitted Viennese waltz and csárdás against 1920s jazz rhythms, striking a nerve with contemporary audiences; the work was banned under National Socialism, returned only hesitantly after the war, and a 2018 Leipzig production won the BR-Klassik critics' "Frosch" award.