Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff
Sat 20 May – Sat 24 June
Die Fledermaus returns to the WNO’s season, directed by John Copley. This traditional dress production promises a return to the bubbly sparkle and fizz to the Vienna art-nouveau backdrop. It takes a hard heart not to be swept along by Die Fledermaus. It might be nonsense but it’s wonderful, frothy, life-affirming nonsense as a piece. John Copley’s production is as opulent as a Viennese desert, full of splendour, posh frocks and masks, and warm comedy.
Johann Strauss’ 1874 operetta comedy is viewed as the supreme example of Viennese operetta, Die Fledermaus both defines and transcends that genre. Its story centres on a magnificent masked ball, thrown by a Russian prince, that brings together all the main characters in various disguises. The three-act journey from boudoir to ballroom to jail provides ample opportunities for farce and humour, but also for genuine human emotion and a surprisingly realistic view of urban life.
Although the plot may border on the ridiculous (based as it is on the German farce novel of the same name), it is hard not to fall under the charms of this operetta. In the plot, Gabriel von Eisenstein goes with his friend Dr Falke to a fancy-dress party. On their way back, Eisenstein left Falke on his own, sleeping peacefully. When he awoke, it was daylight and he had to make his way home dressed in his bat’s costume, accompanied by all the jeering urchins in town. He has never forgotten this humiliation. Meanwhile Rosanlinde is looking forward to a few care-free days to spend with her lover while her husband is in prison, while her maid is sneaking out to care for a ‘sick’ aunt. In fact, they are all headed for the same masquerade ball. And in true masquerade fashion, mistaken identities ensue in hilarious form.
Directed by John Copley, and conducted by Tomas Hanus, this production promises as ever to deliver the highest quality opera. Meanwhile the choreography by Stuart Hopps is set to bring the Viennese ball to the WMC stage. With Soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams as Rosalinde and Mark Stone as Eisenstein and supported by the ever-strong WNO chorus, this is an opulent and entertaining opera that is the perfect introduction to the genre for even the opera-wary.
Tickets: £7-£43. Info: 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk
words EMILY GARSIDE