About the work
Rudolf – Affaire Mayerling is a musical by Frank Wildhorn (music) with lyrics by Jack Murphy and Nan Knighton, premiered in Budapest in 2006, with the German-language premiere following in Vienna in 2009. It deals with the tragic story of the Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf and the Mayerling affair.
Plot
The Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf, son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth, suffers under the pressure of the rigid court and his own liberal, reformist ideals, which collide with his father's conservative politics. In the young Baroness Mary Vetsera he finds a kindred soul and passionate lover. Between political despair, illness, and the hopelessness of his situation, Rudolf increasingly breaks down. The lovers end in a shared death at Mayerling lodge in 1889—an event that shook the Habsburg monarchy.
Cultural significance
Rudolf connects thematically to the worldwide success Elisabeth and deepens the Habsburg tragedy from the perspective of the next generation. Wildhorn's score combines grand romantic ballads with dramatic force. The work was successfully performed in Vienna, Budapest, Japan, and at German theatres and is a fixture of the German-language "drama musical" about the declining Danube monarchy.