Johann Strauss the Younger’s invitation to spend a night in Venice is probably one of the most enticing experiences operetta has to offer. With his reputation already cemented as The Waltz King, it was perhaps inevitable that Strauss would go on to enjoy similar success writing for musical theatre.

By the time A Night in Venice was premiered in Berlin at the Neues Friedrich Wilhelm Städtisches Theater (later known as the Woltersdorff-Theater) on 3 October 1883, Strauss had hit upon a formula that never failed to delight audiences wherever his works were performed.

The Carnival of Venice and a masked ball are the backdrop for a comedy that exploits operetta’s delight in mistaken identity to the full.