Main Opera 2016

Die Fledermaus - Johann Strauss II

Vienna, 1874 – the city lives for pleasure. Money is scarce after the recent recession, Bohemia and Hungary are agitating for independence from Austria, and only the Russian aristocracy can afford to throw parties. People flock to them, trying to forget their troubles. Against this background, the suave and calculating Dr Falke plots revenge against his outrageous friend Eisenstein, who once humiliated him by leaving him stranded after a fancy-dress ball, in a bat costume. Falke weaves an elaborate revenge plot involving a teenage Russian Prince, a frustrated parlour-maid with theatrical ambitions, a lecherous opera singer, a prison governor who lets his hair down... and Eisenstein's wife Rosalinde, who has her own reasons for tricking her erring husband. The champagne flows all too freely, the action accelerates into a farce at breakneck speed and the music – a polka and a csardas to appease the dissident minorities and a whole string of waltzes for the home Viennese market – pours out in intoxicating cascades which go to everyone's head, including, we hope, yours!