Die Fledermaus

For the Tick character, see Die Fledermaus (The Tick).

Template:Strauss II operasDie Fledermaus (The Bat; in French: La chauve-souris) is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Carl Haffner and Richard Genée.

Literary 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. This was first translated by Carl Haffner into a non-musical 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.

Performance history

The operetta premièred on 5 April 1874 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, and has been part of the regular operetta repertoire ever since. It was performed in New York under Bial at the Stadt Theatre on 21 November 1874, and then in English in London at the Alhambra Theatre on 18 December 1876, with the score heavily adapted by Hamilton Clarke. Its first London performance in the original German was in 1895. According to the archivist of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, "Twenty years after its production as a lyric opera in Vienna, Mahler raised the artistic status of Strauss’s work by producing it at the Hamburg Opera House … all the leading opera houses in Europe, notably Vienna and Munich, have brightened their regular repertoire by including it for occasional performance."

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 April 1874 (Conductor: Johann Strauss II )
Gabriel von Eisenstein	baritone	Jani Szika
Rosalinde, Eisenstein's wife	soprano	Marie Geistinger
Adele, Rosalinde's maid	soprano	Caroline Charles-Hirsch
Ida, Adele's sister	soprano	Jules
Alfred, a singer teacher	tenor	Hans Rüdiger
Dr Falke, a notary	baritone	Ferdinand Lebrecht
Dr Blind, a lawyer	tenor	Carl Matthias Rott
Frank, a prison governor	baritone	Carl Adolf Friese
Prince Orlofsky	mezzo-soprano	Irma Nittinger
Yvan, the prince's valet	speaking role
Frosch, a jailer	speaking role	Alfred Schreiber
Party goers and servants at Prince Orlofsky's (chorus)

Synopsis

Act 1

Eisenstein's apartment

Gabriel von Eisenstein has been sentenced to eight days in prison for insulting an official, partially due to the incompetence of his attorney, Dr. Blind. Adele, Eisenstein's maid, receives a letter from her sister, who is in the company of the ballet, inviting her to Prince Orlofsky's ball. She pretends the letter says that her aunt is very sick, and asks for a leave of absence ("My sister Ida writes to me"). Falke, Eisenstein's friend, arrives to invite him to the ball (Duet: "Come with me to the souper"). Eisenstein bids farewell to Adele and his wife Rosalinde, pretending he is going to prison (Terzett: "Oh dear, oh dear, how sorry I am") but really intending to postpone jail for one day and have fun at the ball.

After Eisenstein leaves, Rosalinde is visited by her lover, the singing teacher Alfred, who serenades her ("Dove that has escaped"). Frank, the governor of the prison, arrives to take Eisenstein to jail, and finds Alfred instead. In order not to compromise Rosalinde, Alfred agrees to pretend to be Eisenstein and to accompany Frank. (Finale, drinking song: "Happy is he who forgets" followed by Rosalinde’s defence when Frank arrives: "In tête-à-tête with me so late," and Frank’s invitation: "My beautiful, large bird-cage.")

Act 2

A summer house in the Villa Orlovsky

It turns out that Falke, with Prince Orlofsky's permission, is orchestrating the ball as a way of getting revenge on Eisenstein. The previous winter, Eisenstein had abandoned a drunken Falke dressed as a bat (and thus explaining the opera's title) in the center of town, exposing him to ridicule the next day. As part of his scheme, Falke has invited Frank, Adele, and Rosalinde to the ball as well. Rosalinde pretends to be a Hungarian countess, Eisenstein goes by the name "Marquis Renard," Frank is "Chevalier Chagrin," and Adele pretends she is an actress.

The ball is in progress (Chorus: "A souper is before us") and the Prince welcomes his guests ("I love to invite my friends"). Eisenstein is introduced to Adele, but is confused as to who she really is because of her striking resemblance to his maid. ("My lord marquis," sometimes referred to as "Adele's Laughing Song").

Then Falke introduces the disguised Rosalinde to Eisenstein (Csárdás: "Sounds from home"). During an amorous tête-à-tête, she succeeds in extracting a valuable watch from her husband's pocket, something which she can use in the future as evidence of his impropriety. (Watch duet: "My eyes will soon be dim"). In a rousing finale, the company celebrates (The Drinking song: "In the fire stream of the grape"; followed by the canon: "Brothers, brothers and sisters"; and the ballet and waltz finale, "Ha, what joy, what a night of delight.")

Act 3

In the prison offices of Governor Frank

The next morning they all find themselves at the prison where the confusion increases and is compounded by the jailer, Frosch, who has profited by the absence of the prison director to become gloriously drunk.

Adele arrives to obtain the assistance of the Chevalier Chagrin (Melodrama; Couplet of Adele: "If I play the innocent peasant maid") while Alfred wants nothing more than to get out of jail. Knowing of Eisenstein's trickery, Rosalinde wants to begin an action for divorce, and Frank is still intoxicated.

Frosch locks up Adele and her sister Ida, and the height of the tumult arrives when Falke appears with all the guests of the ball and declares the whole thing is an act of vengeance for the "Fledermaus". (Trio between Rosalinde, Eisenstein, Alfred: "A strange adventure"). Everything is amicably arranged (with Eisenstein blaming the intoxicating effects of champagne for his act of infidelity and Orlofsky volunteering to support Adele's artistic career), but Eisenstein is compelled to serve his full term in jail (Finale, "Oh bat, oh bat, at last let thy victim escape").

Recordings

See Die Fledermaus discography.

Film adaptations

Die Fledermaus has been adapted numerous times for the cinema and for TV:

Year	Country	Notes	Director	Eisenstein	Rosalinde	Adele	Orlofsky	Frosch
1917	Ger	as Das Fidele Gefängnis (The Merry Jail) silent film	Ernst Lubitsch	Harry Liedtke (Alex von Reizenstein)	Kitty Dewall (Alice, his wife)	Agda Nielson (Mizi, the maid)		Emil Jannings (Quabbe, the jailer)
1923	Ger	silent film	Max Mack	Harry Liedtke	Eva May	Lya De Putti	–?–	–?–
1931	Fr/Ger		Carl Lamac	–?–	–?–	–?–	–?–	–?–
1933	GB	Waltz Time — new title	Wilhelm Thiele	Fritz Schulz	Evelyn Laye	Gina Malo	George Baker	Jay Laurier
1937	Ger		Paul Verhoeven	–?–	–?–	–?–	–?–	–?–
1945	Ger	Released 1946	Géza von Bolváry	Johannes Heesters	Marte Harell	Dorit Kreysler	Siegfried Breuer	Josef Egger
1955	GB	Oh... Rosalinda!! — new title	Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger	Michael Redgrave	Ludmilla Tchérina	Anneliese Rothenberger	Anthony Quayle	Oskar Sima
1955	E Ger	Rauschende Melodien — new title	E. W. Fiedler	Erich Arnold	Jarmila Ksirová	Sonja Schöner	Gerd Frickhöffer	Josef Egger
1959	W Ger	TV adaptation	Kurt Wilhelm	Friedrich Schoenfelder	–?–	–?–	–?–	–?–
1962	Aus		Géza von Cziffra	Peter Alexander	Marianne Koch	Marika Rökk	Boy Gobert	Hans Moser
1968	Den	Flagermusen — new title	John Price	Poul Reichhardt	Birgitte Bruun	Ellen Winther	Susse Wold	Buster Larsen
1972	W Ger		Otto Schenk	Eberhard Wächter	Gundula Janowitz	Renate Holm	Wolfgang Windgassen	Otto Schenk
1979	USSR	Летучая Мышь — new title	Yan Frid	Yury Solomin	Lyudmila Maksakova	Larisa Udovichenko	Yuri Vasilyev	Ivan Lyubeznov
1984	GB	TV adaptation	Humphrey Burton	Hermann Prey	Kiri Te Kanawa	Hildegard Heichele	Doris Soffel	Josef Meinrad
1986	W Ger		Otto Schenk	Eberhard Wächter	Pamela Coburn	Janet Perry	Brigitte Fassbaender	Franz Muxeneder
1990	GB		Humphrey Burton	Louis Otey	Nancy Gustafson	Judith Howarth	Jochen Kowalski	John Sessions
1997	Aust		Lindy Hume	Anthony Warlow	Gillian Sullivan	Amelia Farrugia	Suzanne Johnston	Geoff Kelso
2001	Fr	La chauve-souris — French title	Don Kent	Christoph Homberger	Mireille Delunsch	Malin Hartelius	David Moss	Elisabeth Trissenaar

References

• Amadeus Almanac (5 April 1874), accessed 28 January 2009
• Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992), The Oxford Dictionary of Opera, 782 pages, ISBN 0-19-869164-5
• "Fledermaus, Die." by Andrew Lamb in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, edited by Stanley Sadie. (subscription required)

External links

• Libretto to Die Fledermaus in the original German with a literal English translation from Aria-Database.com
• List of upcoming performances from major opera companies from Operabase.com
• The Guide to Operetta — Die Fledermaus
• Recording of "Klänge der Heimat: Csàrdàs" by Lotte Lehmann