Das Dreimäderlhaus

About the show

In the spring of 1826, Schubert, a poor young composer, has quarters in an old Viennese house together with two friends. The three daughters of Christian Tschöll, the court glass maker, visit the three friends. Two of the girls are in love with Schubert's roommates, and the third, Hannerl, is chaperoning her sisters. More of Schubert's friends come to visit. The father arrives in search of his daughters. Schubert's two roommates drink with Tschöll in their courtyard, underneath a Lilac tree, and he agrees to their engagements with his daughters. Schubert takes on Hannerl as his singing pupil, and although the two fall in love, they are each too shy to reveal their feelings. A couple of months later, the first two daughters are marrying their fiancés at Tschöll's house, and the three roommates are all guests at the wedding. Actress Giuditta Grisi, the mistress of Baron Franz Schober, one of Schubert's friends, arrives. She is jealous and believes that he must be cheating on her. She assumes that Hannerl is the other woman and warns her to stay away from her man. Schubert, still unable to tell Hannerl that he loves her, instead asks Schober to sing a song that he has written for her ("Ungeduld"). Hannerl misunderstands Grisi's warning, believing it to be about Schubert rather than Schober. She turns away from the composer and falls in love with Schober. In the Prater the following morning, everyone assembles. Eventually, Schubert ends up alone, disappointed, but consoled by Hannerl's happiness and by his music.