Pressezentrum

Pressebüro der Volksoper Wien

Währinger Straße 78, 1090 Wien

Mag. Eva Koschuh
+43/1/514 44-3410
eva.koschuh@volksoper.at

Sarah Stöger, MA
+43/1/514 44-3412
sarah.stoeger@volksoper.at

Aschenbrödels Traum (Cinderella's Dream)

A fantastic journey that tells a story of self-discovery and emancipation as well as creativity and the power of imagination: on 29 November 2025, the Volksoper will present Aschenbrödels Traum (Cinderella's Dream), a new fairy-tale operetta that combines operetta and ballet. Inspired by Johann Strauss' unfinished Cinderella fragment, composer Martina Eisenreich and director and librettist Axel Ranisch have created an imaginative musical theatre piece with multiple time levels – playful, touching and highly relevant right now. Leslie Suganandarajah, Music Director of the Salzburg Landestheater, makes his debut at the podium of the Volksoper Orchestra, Oliver Liebl takes on the title role, while Lionel von Lawrence plays the part of footballer Danny Robinson. Annette Dasch sings Ida Grünwald and Daniel Schmutzhard appears as the living golden statue of Johann Strauss. Ruth Brauer-Kvam completes the cast as the stepmother. The Vienna State Ballet is performing the dance sequences of the Cinderella story.

ONCE UPON A TIME ... VERY DIFFERENT

The fairy tale of Cinderella is world-famous and has been retold many times. In fact, at the end of his life, Johann Strauss also set out to set the story of the poor, bullied stepchild to music. It was to be a grand ballet, but remained a fragment. What an opportunity for the Volksoper to complete Cinderella on the 200th birthday of the composer. However, not as a reconstruction, but as a completely new piece that combines ballet and operetta and intertwines several time periods and plot lines.

Two artists who transitioned from cinema to the grand opera stage serve as the creative forces behind the new fairy-tale operetta: composer Martina Eisenreich and author and director Axel Ranisch. Together, they have created a fairy-tale operetta that not only takes Johann Strauss's Cinderella fragments seriously, but also uses numerous quotations from his work to strike a contemporary musical chord that, like its great role model, aims to entertain as well as be understood.

In the process, we meet the secret librettist of Cinderella, the typist Ida Grünwald, who is actually only supposed to type up the entries for the text competition for the Johann Strauss ballet. And we witness how the space-time continuum collapses and Cinderella is not only a poor seamstress, but also an outcast gay boy who falls in love with a footballer, of all people. The fact that a court opera director, a star critic and the monument to Johann Strauss in Vienna's Stadtpark himself ultimately help the boy find happiness with the librettist is a truly fairy-tale twist.

FAIRY TALES REPRESENT MIRACLES

Axel Ranisch and composer Martina Eisenreich have taken Johann Strauss's Cinderella fragment as the starting point for a completely new fairy tale operetta. "Fairy tales stand for miracles. It allows timelines to blur, a long-dead librettist to play air violin with a gilded statue of a composer in the attic, and two young people to dance a waltz in trainers, not having to decide who they are in order to know exactly who they love. In fairy tales, the world is enchanted and the heavy becomes light because it does not have to be justified, but can simply be believed. Operetta, on the other hand, stands for playfulness and fun with form, for the ironic wink that makes pain more bearable and breaks down social conventions. In short: fairy tales bring magic and operetta brings the courage to surrender to it," says librettist and director Axel Ranisch.

But there is also a true story behind Aschenbrödels Traum (Cinderella's Dream): "Ida Grünwald was a real Viennese typist. Around 1900, she ran her own typing agency in Vienna, working with writers such as Schnitzler and Hofmannsthal, always punctual, precise and proud of her craft. Her name is emblazoned on the cover of the original Cinderella libretto: Ida Grünwald, Typewriter Operator, Glasergasse 7 – clear and large, like a secret copyright notice. Did she write it herself? We don't know. But that's how we imagined it. We wanted to give her a voice, not as a muse or a machine, but as a storyteller with her own imagination. She doesn't just type the fairy tale, she lives and directs it. And that's exactly why Aschenbrödels Traum begins with her."

A magnificent ensemble brings the enchanting story of Cinderella to life: audience favourite Oliver Liebl takes on the title role, while footballer Danny Robinson is played by Lionel von Lawrence. Annette Dasch embodies the role of Ida Grünwald, while Daniel Schmutzhard appears as Johann Strauss. Ruth Brauer-Kvam can be seen on stage in the role of the stepmother. Many other singers and the Vienna State Ballet make this evening a special musical and dance experience.

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