About the work
Ein Ehemann vor der Tür (Un mari à la porte) is a one-act operetta by Jacques Offenbach to a libretto by Alfred Delacour and Léon Morand. It premiered on 22 June 1859 at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens in Paris.
Plot
The penniless composer Florestan flees his creditors and a bailiff in the middle of the night and ends up in the bedroom of the newly married Susanne. When her husband turns out to be the very bailiff pursuing him, Florestan escapes the tangle by proposing to Susanne's friend Rosine.
Cultural significance
The piece was soon staged beyond Paris, including in Vienna and Budapest, and stayed in the repertoire well into the later nineteenth century; its Valse Tyrolienne remains known today as a concert piece.