Die Fledermaus

This is a past Tuesday Blog from Dec-31-2011.

This is the eighth of Pierre's Twelve Days of Blogging.

What if you had to go to jail on New Year's Eve - what would you do? 

Party, of course!

That's essentially the plot for the Johann Strauss operetta DIe Fledermaus (The bat). There's of course love, flirtations, drinking and the great music of Strauss! What else could you ask for?

Austrians have a long tradition of welcoming the New Year with a performance of Die Fledermaus. Musical sentiments like "Glücklich ist, wer vergisst, was doch nicht zu ändern ist..." ("Happy is he who forgets what can't be changed...") and the story of a masquerade ball make this popular Operetta appropriate for the New Year. A New Year's performance of Fledermaus is also a tradition in Prague, in neighboring Czech Republic, as well as in many other parts of the world. English versions of DIE FLEDERMAUS by John Mortimer, Paul Czonka and Ariane Theslöf, or Ruth and Thomas Martin (and other translators) are performed frequently in the US and other English-speaking countries.

Here is a synopsis:
http://www.metoperafamily.org/metope...is.aspx?id=125

My New Year's gift to you is this great vintage performance under the musical direction of Clemens Krauss:

Enough said - enjoy the performance, and see you tomorrow for the traditional New Year's day concert from Vienna.

Johann STRAUSS II (1825 - 1899)
Die Fledermaus (1874)
Julius Patzak (tenor) - Gabriel von Eisenstein
Hilde Güden (soprano) - Rosalinde
Kurt Preger (baritone) - Frank
Sieglinde Wagner (contralto) - Prince Orlofsky
Anton Dermota (tenor) - Alfred
Alfred Poell (baritone) - Dr Falke
August Jaresch (tenor buffo) - Dr Blind
Wilma Lipp (soprano) - Adele
The Chorus of the Wiener Staatsoper,
Wiener Philharmoniker under Clemens Krauss
rec. Musikvereinsaal, Vienna, 22 June, 16-22 September 1950