Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta by Johann Strauss. It was premiered in Vienna in 1874 ( Viennese operetta ) and is the highlight of the golden age of operetta.
- Gabriel von Eisenstein (tenor )
- Rosalind Gabriel's wife ( soprano)
- Frank, warden ( bass)
- Prince Orlofsky (mezzo- soprano)
- Alfred, singing teacher (Tenor)
- Dr. Falke, a notary (baritone )
- Dr. Blind, lawyer (Tenor)
- Adele, maid (soprano )
- Ida, her sister (soprano )
- Frog, bailiff (voice, comedian )
- Guests of the Prince (chorus )
- Ballet
- 2.1 performers of the premiere
Action
Act I
Gabriel von Eisenstein need for a prison sentence for insulting a public official. As he followed the advice of his friend like Dr. Falke to have fun even of Prince Orlofsky in the night. In reality, Dr. Falke has before, to retaliate for an earlier prank Eisenstein ( the operetta has the full name " Revenge of a bat "). Rosalinde von Eisenstein leaves her husband pulling, when the supposedly breaks into prison. Even the maid Adele, pretending to want to visit a sick aunt, they are free.
When all are gone, comes Alfred, to amuse themselves with Rosalinde. Unfortunately, the love affair is interrupted by the warden Frank, who wants to pick Eisenstein: Because Alfred is nothing left to play than their husband and be lead away to jail in deference to Rosalinde.
Second Act
In the Garden Salon at the young prince Orlofsky Dr. Falke promises the prince that he would still have much to laugh today. Eisenstein appears as " Marquis Renard " on him, Adele is presented as the young artist Olga. Eisenstein's suspicion that she was his roommate girl, she rejects. Warden Frank is introduced as " Chevalier Chagrin " in society, and even disguised as a Hungarian Countess Rosalinde appears - Dr. Falke has let them come with the remark that her husband was there. She succeeds, the fascination of her Eisenstein (who does not recognize ) to steal his watch, it needs to later prove to her husband (whom she has of course recognized) his infidelity.
From the champagne drunk, told Eisenstein and his guests, as he once disgraced Dr. Falke, as he him in his bat costume (they were at a masked ball ) exposed to the ridicule of the market women and street urchins.
Act Three
In the early morning of hard bezechte Frank wants to take up his duties as a prison warden. The harder drunken frog cells normally should report what has now happened, and uses this report to a more or less improvised parody of current local events. As is apparent that Adele is followed ( with her sister Ida ) Frank. Adele admits who she really is, and asks the pretended Chevalier, they get trained for the stage. Now also appears Eisenstein, who wants to take his punishment and now learns of frog, that he had been, Eisenstein, but admitted yesterday. But it turns out that his doppelganger is none other than Alfred; and also as Rosalinde appears, Eisenstein seen through the relationship between Alfred and his wife, but meekly, as Rosalinde it possesses the clock, which they him in the guise of " Hungarian Countess " has fallen hard for Orlofskys.
Finally, the entire hard society with Prince Orlofsky and Falke arrives. Now it becomes clear: The entire production was the successful " Revenge of the Bat" hawk. The delicious amused Prince Adele promises to promote it as a patron.
Roles and Instrumentation
The male lead, Gabriel von Eisenstein, face the two equal female roles Rosalinde and Adele. Talk components and vocal difficulty of the three main roles are about equivalent. The role of Eisenstein 's written by Strauss for a play tenor, but also some important baritones have played the game. The role of Adele is a classic soubrette.
The most important supporting roles are Dr. Falke (aka The Bat), the prison director Frank and Prince Orlofsky. Last was created by Johann Strauss as a trouser role for a mezzo-soprano, in some productions, the game is also sung by a tenor.
The work is in addition to the vocal soloists staffed with four-part choir and a symphony orchestra with 2 flutes (2nd with piccolo ), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, percussion and strings (violins 1, 2 violins, violas, cellos, double basses ).
Performers of the premiere
- Gabriel von Eisenstein: Jani Szika
- Rosalind: Marie Geistinger
- Adele: Caroline Charles Hart
- Ida, Adele's sister: Jules
- Alfred: Hans Rüdiger
- Dr. Falke: Ferdinand Lebrecht
- Dr. Blind: Carl Matthias Rott
- Frank: Carl Adolf Friese
- Prince Orlofsky: Irma Nittinger
- Frog: Alfred Schreiber
Genesis
The libretto of the operetta goes back to two literary sources: The comedy The prison of the Leipzig writer Roderick Bendix and the comedy Le Reveillon the French author Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy duo. As Reveillon is a limitless feast is called in France, as it stood at that time in Paris at Christmas on the agenda ( a similar festival plays a role on the edge in the second act of Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme ). Motives and contents of these two pieces took the Vienna-based librettist Richard Genée together to form a compact, operetta suitable piece, he resorted to a processing of the same substance by Karl Haffner, who had years earlier creates a text template with the same content for Albert Lortzingstraße. In particular, he made a lavish party at a Russian Grand Duke to the center of the work to develop the intrigues of Eisenstein and Falke.
The music is supposed to have originated in the essential parts within 42 days in the summer of 1873 in Strauss's former apartment ( 1870-1878 ) in the Maxingstraße 18 in Hietzing ( since 1892 13th Vienna district), where Strauss mainly as the author of the melodies in appearance occurred while large parts of the instrumentation of Genée were performed. An excerpt from the new work was presented at a charity concert in October first time in 1873 the Viennese audience: the Czardas from the second act This melodrama at the beginning of the third act and the overture are among the few musical parts, completely by Johann Strauss were composed.
Due to the great success of the first performance of Czardas - performance of the entire operetta was promoted quickly, but had to be postponed several times due to the economic crisis is now broken ( " founder noise "). Finally, she went on 5 April 1874 under the baton of the composer, at the Theater an der Wien on the stage. She was in Vienna no " runaway hit ", but found throughout appreciative agreement with the public and press. By 1888 followed by further 199 performances in the same theater. In other cities, the uptake was significantly better at the same time she had been in Berlin already listed at a later start than 300 times.
The first performance in an opera house in 1894 under the baton of Gustav Mahler in the Stadt-Theater Hamburg ( Staatsoper).
Reception
The bat is next to the Gypsy Baron and A Night in Venice one of the three most famous Strauss operettas and also one of the few operettas that are played regularly at major opera houses (most New Year's Eve and Carnival ).
The reason for this is mainly the extremely subtle, thrilling and masterly orchestrated composition. Highlights include the watch - duet ( Rosalind / Gabriel von Eisenstein ), the Czardas, the aria of Prince Orlofsky, the aria Mein Herr Marquis ( Adele ) and the choir waltz little brother and sister - You and you in the second act
The text is catchy and full of irony with timeless truths. As evidence can again serve the ensemble " little brother and sister ":
" Little brother / little brother and sister / Let the trust you give us / / Always Tomorrow and today / If we still think tomorrow off for eternity. "
A special position is occupied by the overture, written in free sonata form, is one of the greatest creations of Johann Strauss. It summarizes the many musical highlights of the whole work and is with its varied dynamics for top orchestra is always a challenge.
Published in 1999 under the New Johann Strauss Complete Edition a two-volume edition of the bat with the revised musical text and the nachkomponierten "New Czardas " and genesis, audit report and playbook.
Recordings
- Eisenstein: Julius Patzak - Rosalinde: Hilde Güden - Adele: Wilma Lipp - Frank: Kurt Preger - Prince Orlofsky: Sieglinde Wagner - Alfred Anton Dermota - Falcon: Alfred Poell - Dr. Blind: August Jaresch - Wiener Philharmoniker - Clemens Krauss 1950 *
- Eisenstein: Waldemar Kmentt - Rosalinde: Hilde Güden - Adele: Erika Köth - Frank: Eberhard Waechter - Prince Orlofsky: Regina Resnik - Alfred: Giuseppe Zampieri - Frog: Erich Kunz - Wiener Philharmoniker - Herbert von Karajan in 1960
- Eisenstein: Rudolf Schock - Rosalinde: Wilma Lipp - Adele: Renate Holm - Frank Walter Berry - Prince Orlofsky: Elisabeth Steiner - Alfred: Cesare Curzi - Frog: Otto Schenk - Wiener Philharmoniker - Robert Stolz 1963
- Eisenstein: Eberhard Waechter (baritone ) - Rosalinde: Gundula Janowitz - Adele: Renate Holm - Frank: Erich Kunz - Prince Orlofsky: Wolfgang Wind streets - Alfred Waldemar Kmentt - Wiener Philharmoniker - Karl Bohm. Directed by Otto Schenk. 1973
- Eisenstein: Hermann Prey (baritone ) - Rosalinde: Julia Varady - Adele: Lucia Popp - Dr. Falke: Bernd Weikl - Frank: Benno Kusche - Prince Orlofsky: Ivan Rebroff - Alfred: René Kollo - Dr. Blind: Ferry Gruber - Frog: Franz Muxeneder - Ida: Evi List - Ivan Nikolai Lugovoi - chorus of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich - Bavarian State Orchestra - Carlos Kleiber 1976
- Eisenstein: Eberhard Waechter (baritone ) - Rosalinde: Pamela Coburn - Adele: Janet Perry - Dr. Falke: Wolfgang Brendel - Frank: Benno Kusche - Prince Orlofsky: Brigitte Fassbaender - Alfred: Josef Hopferwieser - Dr. Blind: Ferry Gruber - Frog: Franz Muxeneder - chorus of the Bavarian State Opera - the Bavarian State Orchestra - Carlos Kleiber 1987
- Eisenstein: Werner Hollweg - Rosalinde: Edita Gruberova - Adele: Barbara Bonney - Dr. Falke: Anton Scharinger - Frank: Christian Boesch - Prince Orlofsky: Marjana Lipovsek - Alfred Joseph Protschka - Dr. Blind: Waldemar Kmentt - Frog: Andre Heller - Netherlands Opera Chorus - Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra - Nikolaus Harnoncourt 1988
- Eisenstein: Wolfgang Brendel (baritone ) - Rosalinde: Kiri Te Kanawa - Adele: Edita Gruberova - Prince Orlofsky: Brigitte Fassbaender - Frank Olaf Bär - Frog: Otto Schenk - Vienna State Opera Chorus - Wiener Philharmoniker - André Previn in 1991
Films
Films of the Operetta: