The plot of Der Zarewitsch is loosely based on a true story: the self-imposed exile of the son of Peter the Great, Alexei, who shirked his father's command to become a monk or take interest in the military by running away to his brother-in-law's kingdom, the Holy Roman Empire, with his Finnish mistress disguised as a page. The couple spent two years in hiding until Alexei was compelled by his father to return. His father was paranoid that Alexei was conspiring against him and ultimately Alexei ended up being imprisoned and tortured. The Russian senate convicted him of conspiring against his father and he was sentenced to death. He died due to ill health before he could be executed, most likely resulting from the poor treatment he received while imprisoned. Reichert's libretto differs on several points from the life of Alexei. First, he changed the story so that the young girl, Sonja, is first seen disguised as a male Circassian dancer. When the Tsarevich runs away with Sonja he believes that she is a boy adding what Richard Traubner of Opera News called an "underlying homosexual frisson" to the operetta. Eventually the young prince discovers that Sonja is in fact a girl disguised as a boy. The two fall in love and escape to Naples. A further major difference is that the operetta does not have such a tragic ending, though it is not exactly happy either. Eventually the Zarewitsch learns that his father has died and he knows his relationship cannot continue with Sonja as he is now the Tsar. The operetta ends with a "bittersweet royal–commoner parting".
Famous arias
"Es steht ein Soldat am Wolgastrand"
Duet: "Dich nur allein, nenn' ich mein"
"Einer wird kommen"
Volga song: "Allein, wieder allein"
"Willst du?"
Duet: "Warum hat jeder Frühling, ach, nur einen Mai?"
Recordings
In 1927, Richard Tauber recorded the two principal arias, and two duets with his first wife, Carlotta Vanconti, for Odeon. Vanconti had taken over the role of Sonja from its creator, Rita Georg, on tour and later sang it in Berlin. In 1938 a radio broadcast of Der Zarewitsch was at the centre of a court case in which the composer sued a Dutch café owner for allowing his customers to listen to the broadcast, in breach of his copyright. A 1968 complete recording with Rita Streich and Nicolai Gedda, the Graunke Symphony Orchestra, choir of the Bavarian State Opera, and the Tchaika Balalaika Ensemble conducted by - German Electrola. In 1972, it was produced for television by Unitel under the direction of Austrian Arthur Maria Rabenalt and featuring cinematography by Heinz Pehlke The 1972 TV production starred Wieslaw Ochman in the title role and Teresa Stratas as Sonja. In 1973, it was issued on VHS cassettes, and in 2007 for the first time on DVD, in collaboration between Deutsche Grammophon and Unitel.
