Don Cesar (Dellinger)

Its libretto by Oskar Walther was adapted from the 1844 play by Adolphe d'Ennery and Dumanoir which was also the basis for the operas Don César de Bazan by Jules Massenet and Maritana by William Vincent Wallace among several other 19th century stage works.

[1] The work was celebrated not only in Germany but on the international stage, and according to theatre scholar Kurt Gänzl was "one of the most widely played pieces of its time, and certainly the most successful of all 19th century German operettas".

The carnival festivities in Madrid always offer the King a welcome opportunity to mingle with the people in disguise and look for a beautiful girl.

The minister Fernandez, loyal to the king, recommends to his lord that he marry the beautiful woman to a stooge, whose identity should be kept secret; afterwards, he can indulge his desires undisturbed.

Unexpectedly, he receives a visit from Minister Fernandez who offers a deal: If he immediately marries an unknown woman, allowing her to adorn herself with the title "Countess," he will be spared from death by hanging.

Don Cesar survived his death sentence because Pueblo managed to replace the bullets in the rifles with blanks.

It doesn't take long for Don Cesar to return to the royal pleasure palace, where he immediately runs into the King.