From
Michael Stallknecht
The Erzgebirge is snowed in deep for the premiere, but in the small theater in Annaberg-Buchholz you can still sail hard on the waterfront. But actually Senta would rather go to the mountains, while Bernd loves the sea and her father Flens is the beer king of Ölsum. Not only Bernd will soon have competition in Klaus, but also Ölsum from Meersum, because the people of Meersum discovered an even better beer recipe from a monk sent north by the Vatican. The happy ending is just as obligatory for the operetta as the praise of alcohol, as the title of Daniel Behle’s “Hopfen und Malz” (Hopfen und Malz) is a reminder of.