The Gypsy Princess by Kálmán, Fra (2010/2011), Dirigent Ferenc Koczka, Tamás Pál, Gábor Kardos, National Theatre, Szeged, Hungary

The seemingly hopeless love of the Orpheum star Szilvia Vereczki and Prince Edwin Lippert-Weilersheim finally overcomes the opposition of the haughty parents, and the struggling Count Bóni also finds his match in the person of Countess Stázi, Edwin's former bride chosen by his parents. In the spring of 1914, Leo Stein and Béla Jenbach approached Imré Kálmán with the idea that he should write an operetta about a singer from the Pest Orpheum who falls in love with an heir to the throne. Kálmán was taken by the idea, and three weeks after the meeting, Stein and Jenbach handed him the script. Meanwhile, the World War broke out, and Kálmán stopped composing: "I can't compose music when... the world is killing each other on the fronts." After a one-year break, he resumed work on the advice of Ferenc Lehár and finished the operetta. The Vienna premiere took place on November 13, 1915, at the Johann Strauss Theater. The operetta began its world-conquering journey. The Hungarian presentation was on November 3, 1916. The Queen of Csárdás is the most popular and most played Hungarian operetta of all time.