When Harald Serafin assumed the directorship of this
festival in 1992, the ascent of Mörbisch as the “Mecca
of operetta” began its course. Today, up to 220,000
visitors attend the festival at the open-air stage on
Lake Neusiedler. After an excursion to the neighboring
area of the musical in 2009 (My Fair Lady), this
year’s program again brings an operetta classic to the
stage: Der Zarewitsch by Franz Lehár. Although this
operetta has an unusually tragic plot for the genre and
sends the audience away without the typical happy
end, it became a hit, not only because of Richard
Tauber, for whom the piece was practically customtailored.
In the Mörbisch production, Romanian born
tenor Tiberius Simu sings the role of the Zarewitsch;
Alexandra Reinprechtin, who has made guest appearances
at the Oper unter den Linden, the Munich State
Opera, the Vienna State Opera as well as the Salzburg
and Bregenz Festivals, sings Sonja. She performed the
same role in 2009 at Munich’s Prinzregententheater
with the Munich Radio Orchestra under Ulf
Schirmer.