The Gypsy Baron (Der Zigeunerbaron) is an operetta in three acts composed by Johann Strauss II. It premiered on October 24, 1885, at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. The operetta's German libretto, written by Ignaz Schnitzer, is based on the unpublished 1883 story Saffi by Mór Jókai.
This work marked a departure from Strauss's earlier, more lighthearted compositions, incorporating serious musical and dramatic tones. Musicologist Andrew Lamb described it as "a step in Strauss’s quest for the composition of a genuine opera". Despite this shift, the operetta was immensely successful internationally during Strauss's lifetime and is considered one of his three best stage works, alongside Die Fledermaus (1874) and Eine Nacht in Venedig (1883).
Strauss began working on The Gypsy Baron in 1883, after being introduced to Jókai’s story by his third wife, Adele Deutsch. The composition process was relatively smooth, though interrupted by health issues, including nicotine poisoning and fainting spells. The operetta was originally conceived as an opera, but later revisions transformed it into a comic operetta.
