Johann Strauss’ “Die Fledermaus”? … and it isn’t anywhere near New Year’s Eve! We are, however, going to Vienna for a recent production of this beloved favorite on this week’s Sunday Opera (9/6 3:00 p.m.).
You probably know the plot by now, but In brief, the plot centers on the actress Rosalinde (Diana Damrau) and her husband Eisenstein (Jonas Kaufmann) who are in Vienna to celebrate the New Year. At the suggestion of their friend Dr. Falke (Adrian Erod), 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 Orlofsky (Daria Sushkiva) and includes a disguised Rosalinde flirting with her philandering husband, and a pocket watch that is an important plot device.
Of course, there’s a happy ending, and we all need happy endings right about now.
The cast also includes Ilia Staple as the irrepressible Adele, Jochen Schmeckenbecher as Frank, Jorg Schneider as Alfred, Lukas Schmidt as Dr. Blind, Hannah-Theres Weigl as Ida, and Michael Niavarani as the jailkeeper, Frosch.
They’re all joined by the Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Markus Poschner.
Stay tuned after the opera for more music of Johann Strauss II and an excerpt from the ballet he was writing at the time of his death. “Aschenbrodel” (“Cinderella”) was completed by another wonderful composer, Joseph Bayer, and contains some lovely music, pieces of which have ben extracted into some stand-alone works. The recording to which we’ll be listening features the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna conducted by Ernst Theis.
