Schlagobers

Schlagobers [whipped cream] is unmistakably inspired by 19th century fairy tale ballets such as Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. A young boy is permitted to visit a Viennese cake shop and help himself to any delicacies he fancies, but the gluttonous feast gets slightly out of hand. After this brief prelude, the real ballet begins: In the first act, the boy suffers from wild hallucinations from overeating, unleashing a transformation scene in which several of the pastries come to life.

In the second act, the feverish boy, now in the sick ward, finds himself in the fantastic world of Princess Pralinee and her court retinue. Strauss integrates a variety of national dances in his ‘light-hearted Viennese ballet’, for example in the Schlagobers Waltz from the finale of Act I, which combines a Minuet, a Slow waltz and a Tarantella.