Die Fledermaus
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Strauß_Bat.jpg
Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is a comic operetta by Johann Strauss II (music) and Carl Haffner and Richard Genée (libretto). It premièred on April 5, 1874 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria.
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Sources
The original source for Die Fledermaus is a farce by German playwright Julius Roderich Benedix (1811-1873), Das Gefängnis (The Prison). Another source is a French vaudeville play, Le Réveillon, by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Their play was first translated by Carl Haffner as a straight play to be produced in Vienna. However, the peculiarly French custom of the réveillon (a midnight supper party) caused problems, which were solved by the decision to adapt the play as a libretto for Johann Strauss, with the réveillon replaced by a Viennese ball. At this point Haffner's translation was handed over for adaptation to Richard Genée, who subsequently claimed not only that he had made a fresh translation from scratch but that he had never even met Haffner.
Outline of the plot
The Baron von Eisenstein has been committed to prison for eight days for insulting an official, partly through the inefficiency of his attorney, the stuttering Dr. Blind, and is to begin his imprisonment this day. His friend, Notary Falke, however, persuades him to postpone it until the morrow and to accompany him to a ball at the residence of Prince Orlofsky, where he will meet the handsome ladies of the opera ballet. Falke had been at a masked ball the previous winter, costumed as a bat, and had been compelled by Eisenstein to walk to his home in broad daylight to the joy and amusement of the populace. He hopes to find an opportunity for vengeance at the coming ball. Eisenstein accepts the invitation, and telling his wife he is going to prison, and taking a mournful farewell of her and the maid Adèle, hastens with Falke to the ball. After his departure Rosalinde, his wife, is visited by a former admirer, the singing teacher, Alfred, whose behaviour is rather free. The night has set in and Frank, the governor of the prison, has come to take Eisenstein to jail. He finds Alfred taking his ease attired in a smoking jacket, and he, in order not to compromise Rosalinde, moved by her prayers, is induced to represent himself as Eisenstein and to accompany Frank. Falke, who has received plein pouvoir from Prince Orlofsky, has also invited the governor of the prison, Frank, the maid Adèle, and to complete the joke, Rosalinde, to be his guests at the ball. The latter, in order to observe her husband, appears masked. She is introduced by Falke as an Hungarian countess, and succeeds during an amorous tête-à-tête in abstracting from the pockets of her husband his valuable watch, to use in the future as evidence of his impropriety. Frank has paid court to Adèle, and the next morning they all find themselves in prison, when the confusion increases, for Falke has introduced Eisenstein as Marquis Renard, Frank as Chevalier Chagrin and Adèle as an actress. It is still further increased by the jailer, Frosch, who has profited by the absence of the prison director to become gloriously drunk. Adèle arrives to obtain the assistance of the Chevalier Chagrin, Eisenstein to begin his prison term, Alfred wants to get out of jail, Rosalinde to commence action for divorce, and Frank is still intoxicated. Frosch locks up Adèle and her companion, and the height of the tumult has been reached when Falke arrives with all the guests of the ball and declares the whole as an act of vengeance for the "Fledermaus." Everything is amicably arranged, but Eisenstein is compelled to serve his full term in jail.
Musical numbers
Act I. Apartments of Eisenstein. Alfred serenades his former sweetheart. ("Dove, that has escaped.") Adèle has received the invitation to the ball ("My sister Ida writes to me"), and asks for leave of absence. Eisenstein comes to Rosalinde in altercation with his attorney. (Terzett: "Well, with such an attorney.") Falke brings the invitation to the ball. (Duet: "Come with me to the souper.") Eisenstein’s farewell to Rosalinde and Adèle. (Terzett with the refrain: "Oh dear, oh dear, how sorry I am.") Alfred arrives. (Finale, drinking song: "Happy is he who forgets"; Rosalinde’s defence when Frank arrives: "In tête-à-tête with me so late," and Frank’s invitation: "My beautiful, large bird-cage.")
Act II. Summer house in the villa Orlofsky. (Chorus: "A souper is before us.") Departure of the chorus, introduction of Eisenstein and song of the prince. ("I love to invite my friends.") Eisenstein meets Adèle. (Ensemble and song of Adèle: "My dear marquis.") Falke leaves Rosalinde to Eisenstein. (Watch duet: "My eyes will soon be dim.") The company approaches, Rosalinde is introduced as an Hungarian. (Czardas: "Sounds from home" and finale. Drinking song: "In the fire stream of the grape"; canon: "Brothers, brothers and sisters"; Ballet; waltz finale, "Ha, what joy, what a night of delight.")
Act III. Office of the governor at the prison. Appearance of Frank. (Melodrama; Couplet of Adèle: "I am an innocent from the country"; Terzett between Rosalinde, Eisenstein, Alfred: "A strange adventure"; and finale, "Oh bat, oh bat, at last let thy victim escape.")
Film adaptations
Die Fledermaus has been adapted numerous times for the cinema and for TV:
Recent productions
Over the decades, the non-singing role of Frosch, the drunken jailer, who first appears in Act III, has come to be seen as the comic highlight of each production. Accordingly, casting usually pays special attention to that character, and Frosch is almost always played by a well-known and much-loved comedian.
In many modern productions, the role of Prince Orlofsky is played by a woman.
While being the show traditionally performed in theatres on New Year's Eve, Die Fledermaus has recently also seen more provocative productions, for example the one directed by Hans Neuenfels at the 2001 Salzburg Festival. With the action transposed into the 1920s, the ball at Orlofsky's metamorphoses into an orgy where decadent guests preferring cocaine to champagne meet some of the harbingers of Nazism -- a place where any waltz immediately becomes a waltz into darkness. The scandal had been announced by artistic director Gérard Mortier, but nevertheless part of the audience reacted with fierce criticism. Among the critics was a 57 year-old general practitioner who, supported by Austria's authority on opera, Marcel Prawy, at least one tabloid, and the Austrian Freedom Party, sued the Salzburg Festival, demanding his money back. The ensuing trial triggered a heated debate on the state of the freedom of the arts in Austria.
Latest production Belgrade National Theatre, Serbia, premiere June 22nd 2005, was directed by Plamen Kartaloff. This is very imaginative production, with lot of new young solists from the National Theatre, but what makes this production so special are costumes, that were designed by famous Serbian painter and sculptor Olja Ivanjicki. So, thanks to costumes, which allude to Batman as some modern "Fledermaus", the director and coreographer used this as a pattern for this production. Die Fledermaus was first performed in Belgrade on May 26th 1907 and this newest production is sixth in almost a century. This production of Die Fledermaus is maybe one of the most interesting and imaginative production ever.
External link
- http://www.aria-database.com/translations/fledermaus.txt -- the libretto in the German original and a literal English translation
- http://www.narodnnopozoriste.co.yu/ -- new production of Die Fledermaus, in National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbia
Reference
- The outline of the plot was taken from The Opera Goer's Complete Guide by Leo Melitz (1921).de:Die Fledermaus