[1] The orchestral interlude of act 3 (entitled Nachtstück) was given its first concert performance by the Wiener Tonkünstler-Orchester on 25 November 1909 under the direction of Oskar Nedbal.

[1] Important productions included the Czech premiere in May 1920 at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague under Alexander Zemlinsky[2] and the highly successful Berlin State Opera production of May 1925 under Erich Kleiber with Richard Tauber and the composers wife Maria Schreker in the leading roles.

[3] The last productions during Schreker's lifetime were at the Theater Aachen and in Teplitz-Schönau during the 1930/31 season,[1] whereafter the Nazi ban on Entartete Musik caused it to disappear from the repertory.

[5] A new production at Bonn Opera opened in December 2011 and another staging took place at the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg in October 2012.

[6] In October 2019, a new production was staged at the Royal Swedish Opera, conducted by Stefan Blunier and directed by Christof Loy, with Agneta Eichenholz as Grete and Daniel Johansson as Fritz.

[7] In March 2022, a new staging opened at the Prague State Opera in a production by Timofey Kulyabin conducted by Karl-Heinz Steffens with Světlana Aksenova and Aleš Brescien in the leading roles.

Fritz wants to marry Grete, but he tells her that before that happens, he has to write a great piece of music and discover the mysterious distant sound ("der ferne Klang") which he hears within him.

Ten years later, Grete is the celebrated queen of the demimonde on an island in the gulf of Venice, where we find her in the famous dance salon "La Casa di Maschere".

This particular day, she promises that she will end the suffering of her suitors and decide on her next lover, announcing that whoever can touch her heart the most deeply with a song will win her.

The Count sings "In einem Lande ein bleicher König", a sad but beautiful song, which the crowd applauds.

The Chevalier counters with "Das Blumenmädchen von Sorrent", a bawdy song that the crowd enjoys as they noisily join in the singing.

He tells her that he has not found the distant sound that has been eluding him these past ten years, so he has gone in search of her instead and now wants to make her his wife.

On the way home, she is accosted by someone on the street, and Dr. Vigelius and the actors, who are staying in a hotel close by, appear and save her from being molested.