Die Fledermaus

Operetta—opera’s (initially) shorter, lighter, sharper-tongued cousin—was born in Paris in the middle of the 19th century. Within a few decades, however, Vienna became the home of the genre, which flourished up until the 1930s—now with a newly Austrian slant. The more than 500 pieces of dance music that Johann Strauss II wrote during the course of his career (not to mention those by his father) stood the composer in good stead for his move into operetta. Premiered in 1874, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is the Viennese operetta par excellence; it sways and glides on waltz rhythms, effervescent energy coming from a Hungarian czardas and giddy drinking songs. Commissioned by Max Steiner, manager of the Theater an der Wien, an original French script was substantially adapted for local tastes. The convoluted plot (the thicker the tangle, the more thrilling the unravelling) pivots on a practical joke played on Gabriel von Eisenstein by his friend Falke. The action ricochets from a glamorous masked ball to a prison, dragging all of Viennese society into the gleeful chaos that ensues. The score is one hit after another, with highlights including maid Adele’s “Laughing Song”, Act II’s sparkling climax, the “Champagne Chorus”, Rosalinde’s scene-stealing czardas, and the eccentric Russian Prince Orlofsky’s tipsy triumph, “Chacun a son gout”.