Typically, Viennese operettas are not concerned with historical events; the generally light and farcical character of these works generally precludes plots centered around more serious topics. The model Viennese operetta, Die Fledermaus, by Johann Strauss II, features no historical context at all, and Strauss' first operetta, Indigo und die vierzig Räuber, is a fairytale.

In contrast, Wiener Blut is set against the Vienna of the early nineteenth century, during the Congress of Vienna. At the time, the Biedermeier city was poised to become a pulsing metropolis, a culturally sophisticated center of a modern empire. At the same time, Wiener Blut is an operetta about Vienna. No operetta before it (and few since) had so blatantly taken Vienna as its subject matter. Most of the characters are genuine Viennese associated with various Viennese landmarks and institutions, and whose dialect sets them apart from outsiders. Specific locations in and around the city are crucial to the drama, and the primary musical number, the waltz, Wiener Blut, describes what it is like to have Viennese blood coursing through one's veins.

When Franz Jauner asked Strauss in the spring of 1899 for a new operetta, he suggested using older material so the aging composer would not have to work too hard. Strauss gave his consent to the idea, but died on June 3, 1899, without giving further input. Although Strauss wanted Hermann Bahr to work on the libretto, the job fell to Victor Léon (1859-1940) and Leo Stein (1861-1921), the director of the Austrian Southern Railway. The entire work was arranged and edited by Adolph Müller Jr. Wiener Blut was produced as "a celebration of the 74th birthday of the eternal master Johann Strauss," and intended to be performed on October 26, 1899, the day after his 74th birthday.

Adolph Müller Jr., created the operetta from works published by the house of Cranz in Vienna, and deserves praise for arranging Strauss' melodies into genuinely effective theatrical numbers, especially the two sextets and the finale. Müller's creation of a waltz-quodlibet to close the second act, incorporating several of Strauss' waltz tunes sounding simultaneously, is truly ingenious, as is his transformation of the polka, Freikugeln, into a quartet to close Act One. Müller also skillfully incorporated the Morgenblätter Waltz, the polka Drausst in Hietzing, the waltz Wein, Weib und Gesang, An der schönen, blauen Donau, and the waltz Neu Wien.

Premiered in Vienna at the Carltheater on October 25, 1899, the first run of Wiener Blut lasted only until November 24. The director of the Carltheater, Franz Jauner, lamented, "The best, the very best, no longer pleases the public." A few weeks later Jauner committed suicide in his office. The "Golden Era" of Viennese operetta was at an end. On its heels followed the so-called "Silver Era," an era that would give new life to Wiener Blut. The management of the Theater an der Wien staged the operetta in 1905, introducing the work to a new generation that gladly embraced the pastiche of Strauss' melodies.

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