Countess Maritza|(Die Gräfin Maritza)
Music by Emmerich Kálmán
Operetta in three acts by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald,
First production: Theater an der Wein, Vienna on February 28, 1924

ACT ONE - On the terrace of a country house near the Bulgarian border is the estate of heiress Countess Maritza. She rarely visits her country property, preferring a social life in the city, and leaves the running of her estate to a new bailiff, Bela Török. Bela Török is really Count Tassilo, whose lack of family fortunes have reduce him to take a job as a bailiff under an assumed name. His one aim is to spare his young sister, Lisa Wittenberg, the pain and disgrace of family misfortune and to save enough money to provide her with a suitable dowry, when the time comes for her to marry. Countess Maritza is coming to visit, and orders an overnight stay with dinner for thirty guests. The object of her visit is to celebrate her engagement to Baron Koloman Zsupán. Actually there is no such person as the Baron, she is making the announcement purely to discourage the multitude of suitors who want to marry her for her money. The guests are quite surprised that the dinner is actually an engagement party, sans fiancé. To Martiza’s amazement a visitor appears whose name is actually Baron Koloman Zsupán from Varasdin. He was greatly surprised to read in the newspaper the announcement of their engagement, even though they have never met. The Countess puts on her best face possible with the situation at hand, and introduces Baron Zsupán as her fiancé to her guests.

Among the guests is Tassilo’s sister, Lisa, who is surprised to see her brother working under an assumed name, and promises to keep his secret from his employer. When the guests sit down to dinner, Tassilo is not invited since he is only the Bailiff, He is quite miffed when a butler sends a bottle of wine with a patronizing message out to him from the Countess. Swallowing his pride he drinks the wine and after feeling mellow breaks into song with the local gypsies giving vent to a mood of self-pity. Maritza has a gypsy reads her palm who tells her that within four weeks Maritza will lose her heart to a handsome nobleman. Not wanting to risk her independence, she tells her guests to leave her estate by morning. She will stay there alone, where there is no one around to fit the gypsy’s description…and she will not have to worry about the palm reading coming true.

ACT TWO– The four weeks are up, Maritza’s friends return and Baron Zsupán finds that his engagement was a mistake, so he turns his attention to Lisa where there is a strong attraction to each other. Meanwhile Maritza has come to realize that the straightforwardness of her Bailiff attracts her far more than the glitter of her society friends. Her old friend Prince Populescu explodes Maritza’s romantic dreams, telling her that he has seen the bailiff walking hand in hand with Lisa and a letter which Tassilo has left lying around seems to let the cat out of the bag – he is an impoverished aristocrat. She plans on exposing him to her guests as an imposter and contemptuously pays him off with a fistful of banknotes and asking him to leave the estate. Lisa rushes in to be with Tassilo and Maritza finally realizes that they are bother and sister. Now she feels certain of her love for Tassilo, but how can she make good the injustice she has done to him?

ACT THREE – The next day Maritza still does not know how to mend things with Tassilo before he leaves her life forever. The trouble is neither of them will take the first step towards reconciliation. Tassilo and Lisa are just leaving when luckily, and unexpected twist is administered to the plot by the arrival of their eccentric aunt, Princess Elizabeth, and her old retainer. She has just heard of Tassilo’s family misfortunes, and is determined to help her nephew. She is enormously wealthy and has a bride for Tassilo in mind, but when she meets Maritza she can understand Tassilo’s devotion. Maritza makes the first move to make amends with Tassilo and they all fall into each other’s arms, while Zsupán consoles himself with Tassilo’s sister Lisa.