About the work
Ritter Pásmán is a comic opera in three acts and the only full-length opera by Johann Strauss II. The libretto was written by Ludwig Dóczi after the Hungarian verse tale Pázmán lovag by János Arany, and Strauss himself conducted the premiere on 1 January 1892 at the Vienna Court Opera.
Plot
At a hunting party in Renaissance Hungary, a stranger kisses the wife of the knight Pásmán. Wounded pride leads Pásmán to demand the right to kiss the culprit's own wife in return, only to discover that the culprit was King Karl Robert of Anjou himself, leaving him about to kiss the queen.
Cultural significance
Despite high expectations for Strauss's only opera, critics found the libretto banal and the Court Opera gave only nine performances. Individual numbers, such as the csárdás with its unusual use of the cimbalom, have survived in the concert repertoire.