The opera's premiere took place on 28 May 1922 at the Stadttheater in Cologne, Germany under the baton of Otto Klemperer. Its last performance in Zemlinsky's lifetime was in 1926 in Berlin-Charlottenburg.The work runs for approximately 90 minutes and is usually paired with another work when performed.

In 1981, the Hamburg State Opera presented the first double-bill of Zemlinsky's two one-act operas Der Zwerg and Eine florentinische Tragödie. Der Zwerg, however, was presented in an abridged version with a substantially altered libretto under the title The Birthday of the Infanta. The first modern performances of the opera as Zemlinsky intended it were given in Cologne in February 1996 under the direction of James Conlon.