La Bajadera

Composed by Emmerich Kalman in 1921, this operetta with an exotic-Indian flavour literally swept Vienna off its feet and became a huge success.
The libretto of the Bajadera is based on a sentimental plot, set as usual in Paris: the story tells of an Indian prince, Radjami, who is forced to take a wife in order to ascend the throne. His search for a bride reaches the French capital, where he meets Odette Darimonde, an operetta diva. She will be the woman for him. The easy compositional vein that animates the choruses, romances, dance motifs, comic duets, very pleasant, colourful, full of originality, vivacity and variety, but at the same time full of feeling, elegant and graceful in form, supported by rich instrumentation and with grandiose endings, cannot fail to engage the listener. Moreover, the fox trot, the shimmy, new motifs that had largely replaced waltzes in operetta, appeared from the very first performance destined for sure popularity.