WALDMEISTER

This is how scandalous a trip to the countryside can be: A group of fun-loving young people, led by the singer Pauline, flee from a storm to the so-called forest mill. When the strict head forester Tymoleon turns up to catch his pupils on their unauthorized excursion, he mistakes Pauline for the miller and is happy to be charmed by her. But Tymoleon is engaged to the beautiful Freda! Young Botho has also fallen madly in love with her, which is why he naturally seizes the opportunity to expose Tymoleon. He succeeds with the help of botany professor Erasmus Müller, who has come to inspect the "black woodruff" allegedly discovered by Freda's mother Malvine. Erasmus immediately recognizes that it is merely woodruff dyed with ink, but the plant's effect, processed with plenty of alcohol into a drinkable punch, leaves nothing to be desired. And so, after a few trials and tribulations, the right couples find each other.

A good twenty years after "Die Fledermaus", Johann Strauss wrote this song of praise to sensual pleasure. In the Strauss anniversary year 2025, Josef E. Köpplinger presents this piece in a new textual adaptation as a subversive screwball comedy that sweeps away encrusted social conventions with ironic wit and Straussian musical magic. Don't miss it!