The Hungarian State Opera will perform Offenbach’s “Die Rheinnixen” for the first time.

The work will make its Hungarian premiere on Feb. 24, 2018. “Die Rheinnixen is considered Offenbach’s first opera and has been forgotten for years. It was commissioned by Vienna’s Hofoper and the piece depicts a country
shattered by internal warfare through an unusual love story in which poetry and politics combine with dreams and reality, and the supernatural and the realistic.

Audiences will recognize themes from “Les Contes d’Hoffmann” as the famous barcarolle was actually written first for this work.

Even though the work was a huge success in the Austrian capital when it made its world premiere, critics in the Wagnerian camp booed it, and the work fell into oblivion for the next 138 years.

The Hungarian State will perform the work in a new production by Ferenc Anger and it will be showcased  four times at the Erkel Theatre.