White horse Inn

Operetta in three acts, composed by Ralph Benatzky.

Libretto by Hans Müller, based on a play by Blumenthal and Kadelburg. Music lyrics by Robert Gilbert.

Romanian version of the libretto: George Mihalache, Migry Avram Nicolau and Val Săndulescu.

In Austria, in the picturesque mountain establishment of St. Wolfgang, at the shore of the renowned Wolfgangsee, a sight for domestic and foreign tourists is the famous White Horse Inn.

Josepha Vogelhuber runs the inn for more than three years, since she became a widow. She is a very energetic manager and during this time has changed five head waiters, because they had dared to fall in love with her, neglecting their work. Now, Leopold, newly employed on this position, is about to perpetrate the same sin. A highly capable and serious young man, Leopold loves his mistress with a sincere and disinterested love; he is truly worthy of Josepha’s attention and, still, the beautiful innkeeper does not even look at him. She has a dream and she keeps hoping she will achieve it. For three years, the renowned Viennese lawyer Erich Siedler has spent his summer holidays at her inn. Kind, courteous and sensitive to Josepha’s charms, the lawyer promised he would help her open a small restaurant in Vienna. However, these promises make him forget settle his financial bill to her. Common sense tells Josepha that she should not believe the lawyer’s kind words. Still, she is carried away by dreams and ambitions of her future as a “lady” in Vienna.

Many tourists arrive at the inn, such as the grumpy businessman Wilhelm Gieseke – the owner of the company Jupiter – always unsatisfied and belligerent, accompanied by his charming daughter Ottilia. Gieseke has come to the White Horse Inn in order to find the peace he much needs after the continuous lawsuit harassment from his competition – the company Apollo.

Sigismund Sülzheimer jr., the future manager of Apollo, was sent here by his father, advised by lawyer Siedler, who had suggested that the conflict of interest would disappear as Ottilia married Sigismund and the two companies merged.

Still, Sigismund is destined to meet the young, nice and irresistible Klärchen, daughter of professor Hinzelmann. In turn, when Siedler meets Ottilia he is no longer convinced that a merger of the two companies is absolutely necessary.

The intricate ways of love will be smoothed by the magic White Horse, as, in the happy finale, the inn hosts the weddings of three great couples: Josepha and Leopold, Ottilia and Siedler, and Klärchen and Sigismund.

*Titus Moisescu & Miltiade Păun, Ghid de operetă, Editura Muzicală a Uniunii Compozitorilor, Bucharest, 1969