Translation Light Cavalry Composer Franz von Suppé Language German | First performance 21 March 1866 Librettist Karl Costa Genre Operetta | |
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Premiere 21 March 1866 (1866-03-21)
Carltheater, Vienna Similar Die schöne Galathée, Boccaccio, Fatinitza, Pique Dame, Banditenstreiche | ||
Leichte Kavallerie (Light Cavalry) is an operetta in two acts by Franz von Suppé, with a libretto by Karl Costa. It was first performed in the Carltheater, Vienna, on 21 March 1866.
The original work is set in an 19th-century Austrian village where several love intrigues and the discovery of a father-daughter relationship are accompanied by the arrival of a regiment of hussars. In 1934, Hans Bodenstedt completely rewrote the operetta. It was set in the 18th century amid the court intrigues of a Baron and his Hungarian Countess lover, whose ballet company is referred to as the "light cavalry".
While much of the operetta remains in relative obscurity, the Light Cavalry Overture is one of Suppé's best known works. The music from the operetta was used as the soundtrack of a film of the same name in 1935.