Organization

Stage director

Otto Schenk

Set designer

Günther Schneider-Siemssen

Costume designer

Silvia Strahammer

Tenor

Bernard Richter

Gabriel of Eisenstein

Soprano

Pamela Coburn

Rosalinde

Janet Perry

Adele

Baritone

Enno Fischer

Frank

Mezzo-soprano

Brigitte Fassbaender

Prince Orlofsky

Josef Hopfenwieser

Alfred

Wolfgang Brendel

Doctor Falke

Ferry Gruber

Doctor Blind

Spoken

Ivan Unger

Ivan

Bayerische Staatsoper

Orchestra

Bayerisches Staatsorchester

German

Die Fledermaus -  (The Bat)

Munich

Germany

Vienna, 19th century. Gabriel von Eisenstein has to serve several days in prison for insulting officials. When he says goodbye to his wife Rosalinde, his friend Dr. Falcon. The latter suggests he go to prison later and first accompany him to a party in Prince Orlofsky's palace. Eisenstein is delighted. He doesn't know that Falke is only luring him to the festival to take revenge on: At the carnival, Eisenstein had exposed the falcon, disguised as a bat, to ridicule. Other guests and chess pieces in Falke's plan are Adele, Eisenstein's chambermaid, prison warden Frank and, last but not least, Eisenstein's wife Rosalinde. Disguised as a Hungarian countess, she turns her unsuspecting husband's head. Not planned by Falke, but Alfred takes care of an old admirer of Rosalinde who was mistakenly arrested instead of Eisenstein for added confusion. The next morning, everything is resolved - the party appears in prison and reveals the real culprit: the champagne!
The corks are popping and the champagne is flowing in this sparkling production of the world-famous operetta by the Bavarian State Opera. Carlos Kleiber conducts the music of the waltz king with temperament, power and sensuality. One is involuntarily reminded of contemporaries' descriptions of how Johann Strauss himself stood at the podium: "His whole body conducted - hands, head, eyes, torso and feet of the master master conducted."
However, Kleiber also evokes the memory of another great role model: in 1894 Gustav Mahler conducted the operetta in Hamburg with his usual care and precision. This performance paved the way for the incomparable triumph of "Fledermaus" on the stages of all the major opera houses in the world.
The libretto is based on a witty libretto written by the prominent librettist duo Meilhac and Halévy for Jacques Offenbach. Since Strauss did not set it to music, Haffner and Genée took up the subject and changed it only slightly - Johann Strauss was enthusiastic.
"It is not enough to try to explain Carlos Kleiber's strange 'bat' affinity..., with his ingenious melodic verve, his rhythmic dance spirit, his eroticizing musical transference. Kleiber does not stop at the exhilaration, Strauss's waltz bliss, he discovers much more behind the notes of the piece, where in moments, but always immediately overplayed by the amusement, the 'Figaro' constellation flashes: the Viennese downside of unconditional amusement, the abandonment of lovingly betrayed and swindlers out of love, yes the depression, which nests in the completely unleashed erotic game of society doing it madly" (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
"In the recording from the Munich National Theater, a glamorous cast determines Otto Schenk's production... One spins in a winey mood, drunk with champagne or tipsy with slivovitz, one is coquettish, with a wink, melancholic or blissful in this merry-go-round, where love, truth, lies and An eternal game is being played" (Der Tagesspiegel).

Die Fledermaus Strauss II,J

Public

The Bat

Approved

The Bat by Strauss II, Fri 01 Aug 1986, From (1986/1986), Directed by Otto Schenk,

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues