Back by popular demand! (I’ve always wanted to write that.) Actually, only six listeners requested it, but we aim to please. Because of this, we’ll once again enjoy a European tradition on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/31 3:00 p.m.) as we prepare you for your New Year’s celebrations with Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus.”
In brief, the plot centers on the actress Rosalinde and her husband Eisenstein who are in Vienna to celebrate the New Year. At the suggestion of their friend Dr. Falke, they are staying at the Imperial Hotel. Unbeknownst to them, Falke has hired the hotel concierge as part of his revenge plot on Eisenstein, two years in the making. Most of the fun takes place at the New Year’s Eve ball thrown by Count Orlafsky and includes a disguised Rosalinde flirting with her philandering husband, and a pocket watch that is an important plot device.
This delightfully comic battle-of-the-sexes features some stellar singing from some old favorites including Hilde Guden, Regina Resnik, Waldemar Kmentt, Erika Koth, and Walter Berry.
In addition to these, the gala concert at Count Orlafsky’s ball includes stellar turns from Renata Tebaldi, Birgit Nilsson, Mario del Monaco, Teresa Berganza, Joan Sutherland, Jussi Bjorling, Leontyne Price, and a particularly charming duet by Giulietta Simionato and Ettore Bastianni among others.
After the opera, we’ll enjoy another European New Year’s tradition and a selection of waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr., Josef Strauss, Emile Waldteufel, and Sergei Prokofiev.
It truly is a great performance of a wonderful work, and you just can’t go wrong with some wonderful waltzes to tie the afternoon up in a musical bow.
