be Hwang, lyrics by Murphy, additional lyrics by Nan Knighton, and music by Frank Wildhorn. Arrangements by Koen Schoots and orchestrations by Kim Scharnberg. It is about Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria and his extramarital relationship with Baroness Mary Vetsera. Their 1889 deaths at his Mayerling hunting lodge apparently were the result of a murder-suicide pact, although historians have debated this explanation. Loosely based on the book A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton,[1] the musical was developed under the working titles Vienna, Affäre Mayerling (The Mayerling Affair), and Rudolf - The Last Kiss. The pressures of the monarchy have fallen upon Rudolf's shoulders, he is in political and personal conflict with his father, Emperor Franz Joseph, and his marriage to Princess Stéphanie of Belgium is crumbling when he meets and falls in love with the 17-year-old baroness. Their secret liaison doesn't escape the attention of prime minister Eduard Taaffe, who hopes to use his knowledge of the affair to destroy Rudolf's political career.