Beginning in November, I thought about looking for a new opera to play as we approached the New Year. However, by the beginning of December, I’d already heard from several people who asked me to repeat Johann Strauss' “Die Fledermaus” because it’s become a part of their family tradition. Who am I to go against tradition? So, on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/28 3:00 p.m.), the all-star “bat” returns!
In brief, the plot centers on the actress Rosalinde (Hilde Gueden) and her husband Eisenstein Waldemar Kmentt) who are in Vienna to celebrate the New Year. At the suggestion of their friend Dr. Falke (Walter Berry), 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 Prince Orlafsky (Regina Resnik) 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 more delightful performances from Erika Koth as Rosalinde’s maid Adele, Eberhard Wachter as the prison governor Frank, Giuseppe Zampieri as the singer/teacher Alfred, Peter Klein as Dr. Blind, Erich Kunz as the drunken jailor Frosch, and Hedwig Schubert as Adele’s sister Ida.
Herbert von Karajan conducts the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera Chorus.
In addition to these, the gala concert at Prince 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 Bastianini 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.
