This masterpiece, composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold when he was only 23, was one of the great stage successes of the 1920s and 30s before being removed from theatre schedules by the National Socialists. Rediscovered in the 1970s, it has enjoyed continuing popularity ever since. The libretto was compiled by the composer’s father, the music critic Julius Korngold, writing under the pseudonym ‘Paul Schott’, a combination of the name of the protagonist and the publishing house.