Elisabeth (musical)


Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien, with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I. It has been translated into seven languages and seen by over ten million spectators worldwide, making it the most successful German-language musical of all time. It has not yet been staged in the English speaking world.

Summary

The musical tells the story of Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria, from her engagement and marriage in 1854 to her murder in 1898 at the hands of the Italian anarchist Luigi Lucheni, through the lens of her growing obsession with death, as her marriage and her empire crumble around her at the turn of the century.

Synopsis

The show opens in the "world of the dead", where Luigi Lucheni is being interrogated by a Judge as to why he has murdered the Empress Elisabeth. Lucheni claims that he did no more than what Elisabeth herself wanted, since all her life Elisabeth has been in love with Death himself – and vice versa. As his witnesses, Lucheni brings back the dead aristocracy of the bygone era and takes us to the past, where he serves as a sarcastic narrator of the events that lead to the transformation of the sweet and innocent Sisi to the revered and infamous Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, and her decline through later years until her assassination.
At a young age, Sisi, grown up in a seemingly sorrowless environment, experiences her first encounter with Death, which launches a love–hate affair that will span her entire life.
Lucheni claims that once Franz Joseph, the Emperor of Austria, picks Elisabeth as his bride – for once opposing his domineering mother Sophie – he begins a chain of events that will eventually topple the Habsburg empire. Elisabeth herself very soon comes to regret her seemingly "fairy-tale marriage". She feels abandoned by her careless husband, psychologically abused by her possessive mother-in-law, and is chronically depressed due to her loneliness. There is only one thing that keeps her emotionally stimulated—the dark and sensual shadow of Death; but Elisabeth is reluctant to consummate their relationship. When Death takes her infant daughter, the tragedy shakes the young Empress extremely, but she refuses to give in to Death's sway.
After her other two children, including her only son Rudolf, are taken away by Sophie, Elisabeth calluses over and becomes cold and selfish. She flees the Austrian court and spends decades restlessly travelling all over the world, trying in vain to escape from her fear of emptiness. Eventually, Elisabeth makes peace with her husband and finds new meaning in her life when she helps unify Austria and Hungary, but her newfound purpose makes her neglect her psychologically delicate son even further, sending young Rudolf into deep depression and causing him to bond with Death.
Eventually, Rudolf's own loneliness and his father's pressure cause him to snap and he embraces Death, committing suicide at Mayerling with his mistress, Mary Vetsera. This event completely breaks down Elisabeth and she begs Death to take her. However, her scorned lover now refuses to take her in.
Another decade goes by. Elisabeth still wanders from place to place, dressed in permanent mourning. Franz Joseph visits her from time to time, begging her to return home to Vienna, firmly believing that love is the answer to all sorrows, but Elisabeth refuses, citing that sometimes love is simply not enough to cure old wounds.
Finally, in a horrifying vision of the fall of the House of Habsburg, Franz Joseph at last meets his mysterious rival. He watches as Death throws Lucheni a dagger, but crushed by the weight of his imperial crest, he is powerless to save his wife.
On September 10, 1898, while on her way to board a ship in Geneva, Empress Elisabeth of Austria is mortally wounded, stabbed in the heart with a crudely sharpened file. As she lies dying, Death comes to claim her spirit with a kiss. With their embrace, the show ends.

Principal characters

The world premiere of Elisabeth, directed by Harry Kupfer, took place on September 3, 1992 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, Austria, where it ran until January 1997. After a brief hiatus, it reopened on September 4, 1997. The final closing date was on April 25, 1998. In October 2002, a 10th Anniversary miniseries of concerts took place at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna. The Vienna production was revived on October 1, 2003 and ran until December 4, 2005.

Other productions have been mounted in the following countries. Current or upcoming productions are in bold:
Additional songs have been added for some productions of Elisabeth that are not featured in all productions. Also the order of songs is often switched, which is the most noticeable between the German and the Viennese versions. This song list and order, with titles in English, is based upon the original Vienna production except where noted.

Act One:


Act Two:
Elisabeth has been known to inspire a collector's mania that does not limit itself solely to audio and visual memorabilia. However, as of November 2007, there have been a total of at least twenty-five cast albums, complete works, demos, and promotional albums/singles, as well as eight commercial DVDs of the show, released to the public. These releases do not include countless other artists' solo albums and special compilations that also feature songs from the musical. Listed here are a few from the more mainstream, or better-known, productions.

VIENNA 1992 Elisabeth — original cast recording

Elisabeth: Pia Douwes, Der Tod: Uwe Kröger, Luigi Lucheni: Ethan Freeman

Producer – Jimmy Bowien

Polydor GMBH - 513 792-2

VIENNA 1996 Elisabeth — complete live recording

Elisabeth: Maya Hakvoort, Der Tod: Addo Kruizinga, Luigi Lucheni: Bruno Grassini

Polydor GMBH - 531 481-2

SCHEVENINGEN 1999 Elisabeth — original Dutch cast album

Elisabeth: Pia Douwes, De Dood: Stanley Burleson, Luigi Luicheni: Wim van den Driessche

Polydor - 543 335-2

ESSEN 2001 Elisabeth — original German cast album

Elisabeth: Pia Douwes, Der Tod: Uwe Kröger, Luigi Lucheni: Carsten Lepper

Polydor GMBH - 549 800-2

VIENNA 2004 Elisabeth — Revival cast recording

Elisabeth: Maya Hakvoort, Der Tod: Máté Kamarás, Luigi Luicheni: Serkan Kaya

HitSquad Records 6680530

VIENNA 2005 Elisabeth — complete live recording

Elisabeth: Maya Hakvoort, Der Tod: Máté Kamarás, Luigi Luicheni: Serkan Kaya, Kaiser Franz Joseph: André Bauer, Erzherzogin Sophie: Else Ludwig, Erzherzog Rudolf: Fritz Schmid

HitSquad Records 668262