About the work
Two-act ballet by Richard Strauss (Op. 70), composed in 1921–22 while he served as co-director of the Vienna State Opera. It premiered on 9 May 1924 at the Vienna State Opera, choreographed by Heinrich Kröller, to mark Strauss's sixtieth birthday.
Plot
In a Viennese confectionery, sweets and drinks come to life: marzipan figures march, chocolates dance, and Princess Pralinée hosts a party. A boy who has overeaten on the confections experiences fantastical hallucinations that drive the second act.
Cultural significance
Because of its enormous production costs during the postwar hyperinflation, the work was quickly nicknamed the „billion-crown ballet“. Contemporary critics found the score overwrought; Strauss himself explained his choice of lighthearted subject matter by saying he could not bear the tragedy of the present time.