Die Landstreicher

Sometimes luck is simply lying there in the street – at least that’s what a pair of vagabonds think when they find a diamond necklace and a thousand-mark note. Their find, however, brings nothing but bad luck. First, they end up in jail, before they slide into a ludicrous career as swindlers. Their paths cross with the enamoured Prince Gilka, owner of said necklace and thousand-mark note, a dancer seeking financial security, and a jealous Hungarian. And a young judge, almost driven bonkers by the chaos, until all the entanglements are unravelled at a Munich Künstlerfest, or artists' festival.

Carl Michael Ziehrer was a dance music composer and conductor of the Hoch- und Deutschmeister band, before he dedicated himself to the operetta, and enjoyed his greatest success with »Die Landstreicher« in 1899. Along with his hits such as the marching song, »Das ist der Zauber der Montur« (»The Magic of a Uniform«) and the waltz »Sei gepriesen, du lauschige Nacht« (»Be praised, you balmy night«), the turbulent operetta offers further enchanting melodies and at the same time is also a quirky crime thriller straddling illusion and reality.