Der lustige Krieg
operetta composed by Johann Strauss II
Der lustige Krieg (The Merry War) is a three-act operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. The work was first performed on 25 November 1881 at the Theater an der Wien. Its libretto was by F. Zell (Camillo Walzel) and Richard Genée, based on the book for Henri Reber's 1857 opéra comique Les Dames capitaines. The operetta was well received at its premiere, and was performed 69 times during its first run.
Orchestration
Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, harp, percussion, and strings.
Roles
(Casaglia gives a different premiere cast: Rosa Streitmann as Artemisia, Ferdinand Schütz as Riccardo Durazzo, Felix Schweighofer as Fortunato Franchetti.)
Synopsis
Overview
The operetta is set in principalities located near Genoa. Among other, the garrisoned Mediterranean city of Massa during the first part of the 18th century. It concerns a dispute between two states. The 'war' between them is played out as a game of love between Colonel Umberto Spinola, the commander-in-chief of the Genoese army, and the widowed Countess Violetta Lomellini. Its central conflict is a playful and symbolic “war” between men and women, which is social and emotional rather than military in nature. Through disguises, misunderstandings, and role reversals, romantic entanglements arise and are ultimately resolved in reconciliation.
“Der lustige Krieg” enters the record as operetta composed by Johann Strauss II. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what lustige, Krieg and operetta can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1199437. VIAF identifies the subject as 5152153954875105680007. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1881 and 1857.
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This entry incorporates text from “Der lustige Krieg” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.