About the work
A comic opera in three acts; Lortzing wrote the libretto after Alexandre Duval's "La Jeunesse de Henri V," in August Wilhelm Iffland's German adaptation "Heinrichs des Fünften Jugendjahre." Composed in Vienna in 1847, it premiered on 13 December 1847 under Lortzing's own direction at the Städtisches Hoftheater Leipzig.
Plot
Young Prince Heinrich neglects his duties of government in favour of nights of pleasure in harbour taverns. His wife Catharina stages a lesson: she draws him into an incident at the tavern "Zum Großadmiral" that leads to his arrest. Only the next morning does Count Rochester secure his release, after which the chastened prince mends his ways.
Cultural significance
The work draws on the English legend of the dissolute young Prince Henry, who later became King Henry V. It was initially well received but quickly vanished from the repertoire after the revolutionary years of 1848/49.