Johann Strauss - Die Fledermaus / Domingo, Te Kanawa, Prey, Royal Opera Covent Garden

The opera itself was brilliant entertainment, with lots of laughs in it. It was almost as madcap as Gilbert & Sullivan (NOTHING can be as madcap as <i>Trial by Jury</i>). It well deserves the innumerable performances that have been done of it.Perhaps because of my interest in languages, the scene that amused me most was when the husband and the jailer were introduced as Frenchmen and they had to pretend to speak French to one-another even though they knew just about as much French as I do, which is very little. They managed a few common but totally unconnected French words and even threw in a bit of Italian.I can get by in reading French to some extent because I have a general knowledge of European languages but I have never studied it. I <a href="http://antigreen.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/another-blast-from-past-via-steve.html">recently translated</a> some Afrikaans, though. So that may explain why I was so amused by the scene. I couldn't watch it right through the second time around because it was so funny. I am like that with Mr Bean too. He is so unbearably funny that I have to switch off the recording half way through and watch the second half another day. Do Leftists have a sense of humour that strong? I can't imagine it.And the performance was a distinguished one indeed. Kiri te Kanawa was at her very good best. She both sang and acted admirably. And Hermann Prey as the husband was in his element. His expression when his wife was expounding his sins was very well and amusingly done.And a big surprise was the appearance of every woman's favourite soulful singer -- "Sharl" Aznavour -- playing, what else, Charles Aznavour. To get him along in a cameo role was undoubtedly a bit of a coup for the production. You don't have to understand a word Aznavour sings to get the soulfulness. He is a mobile evocation of tragedy. He is not my cup of tea at all but he is undoubtedly a supreme master of his genre.And the dancing was surprisingly good too. The dancing in operas and operettas can be pretty basic. I have an example in mind -- from Britain -- but will not be so unkind as to record it.On this occasion, the participation of an accomplished ballet company was secured, however, ensuring very good dancing indeed. The chief male dancer impressed me. It is of course routine for male dancers to lift the ballerina above their heads at some stage, though few have been as good at it as Nureyev. He would lift the lady up with two hands and then hold her there briefy with one hand -- a great feat of strength. And the dancer on this occasion was even better. He exited holding the ballerina above his head -- with his grip on just one of her ankles. Just holding her there would be pretty good, let alone walking off with her like that. <i>Update</i>: On further viewing he seems to have a hand on his lady's bottom too. But it is still quite a feat.And I was rather pleased at how un-Islamic the show was. It featured a huge amount of alcoholic imbibing and not a little of amusing drunkenness. Towards the end the whole proceedings were said to be a celebration of Champagne! I think I too would blow myself up if I were a Muslim. Though I was in fact teetotal until my late 20s. I was very skinny in my youth and I used to wonder what I could eat or drink to put on a bit of weight. In my late 20s I found the answer: beer!Speaking of 21st century concerns, I was pleased at how good the ethnic stereotyping was in the casting. Ethnic stereotypes are absolutely <i>verboten</i> these days but they have been something of an interest of mine. I have even written academic articles on the subject (<a href="http://jonjayray.comuv.com/scots.html">here</a> and <a href="http://jonjayray.comuv.com/stereo.html">here</a>). So I was pleased to see that the Italian music master could not have been more Southern Italian: A Neapolitanian, I suspect. And I was initially a bit critical of "Dr Falke" looking so English -- but I note now that he is introduced as "from London" -- so the casting director and I obviously thought similarly. And Hermann Prey looked as German as he is.So what did I not like about the production? I LOATHED the "trouser role", where the Prince was played by a bald-headed woman. The role was originally written that way but I am obviously not alone in my response to it -- as quite a lot of productions have put a man into the role. And couldn't they at least have put some hair on her? A bald-headed woman is a tragedy. The lady sang well enough but looking at her was a pain.I suppose the producer at Covent Garden was being true to the text in casting that role but I wish he had been true to the text throughout. He clearly couldn't decide whether to produce the show in German or English. It was mostly in German but also substantially in English. Because I have a degree of age-related hearing loss, I understood the German better -- because it had subtitles -- while the English did not. The English bits were mainly to get laughs -- which succeeded -- but why not be done with it and produce the whole thing in English? Kiri te Kanawa is of course a native English speaker and I can't imagine that the other singers would have had any difficulty.Many patrons of the arts are elderly and reduced hearing is a normal part of aging so all recordings of operas and operettas should be fully subtitled, just as all live performances should include supertext.And whatever limitations the show had were all more than made up for by Strauss's wonderful music. The profundity of J.S. Bach is my musical home but you would have to be a sad soul indeed not to hear the joy that is in the music of Johann Strauss II. Unlike some others I have seen recently, I will be viewing this show again.

These comments refer to the performance of Strauss' Die Fledermaus done by the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, conducted by Placido Domingo, starring Kiri Te Kanawa and Hermann Prey as the Eisensteins. (sung mostly in German, with subtitles in English, German, Spanish, and Japanese.)This performance is a good introduction to Strauss' Fledermaus because Dr. Falke explains to Prince Orlofsky IN ENGLISH! the plot of his complicated prank on his old friend Gabriel Eisenstein.As if the cast of excellent singers and the beautiful costuming were not enough, Prince Orlofsky's celebrity guests make this an evening to remember. In addition to an appearance by French crooner, Charles Aznavour, there is a ballet vignette with such superb dancing that it will leave breathless even those (like me!) who usually eschew ballet--it's dazzling!Recorded in 1984, this is a New Year's Eve performance that you'll want to enjoy again and again with family and friends.

Althrought the guest lineup (Charles Aznavour, Dr. Evadne Hinge & Dame Hilda Brackett, Merle Park and Wayne Eagling) is no match to the 1990 Gala (Which have Pavarotti, Marilyn Horne and Dame Joan Sutherland in her last performance ever), this video of the 1984 New Year's Eve Gala have a great cast (Headed by Dame Kiri), and a fun conductor (YES! THAT IS THE PLACIDO DOMINGO!), and great fun from start to finish (And, WHAT A FINISH THEY GOT!). Althrought I didn't like the look of Doris Soffel's Orlofsky, I do enjoy Josef Meinard's Frosch a lot (You ought to see the interplay between him & Domingo). Hermann Prey & Benjamin Luxon is pretty good, and Dame Kiri? She's Yummy throughout, with her best fun comes at the finale and curtain call! And, Domingo? Wonderful at the podium, as he does on stage!All in all, one of the best Fledermaus Gala videos ever!

Yes, it's an older production and yes it suffers from being a product of its times but I disagree with those who try to pick it apart. I have loved this music since I was a kid but I especially enjoy the humor, joy and obvious fun of the theater that the cast and audience are sharing. Domingo is exuberant in his English debut as a conductor and Prey and Te Kanawa are excellent leads. The staging is marvelous. The "guest" appearances add to the party atmosphere.This is nothing more than fun. Fun done very well. Enjoy it for what it is.

The first and third acts are both delightful, the second act is where I had a problem. Whereas the first and third acts followed the score fairly closely, the second act is greatly expanded with specialty performances that vary considerably in their ability to communicate. On repeated viewings, I found it increasingly easy to fast forward over several of the added performances. Such is the beauty of the DVD.The first and the third acts generally make up for the somewhat bloated second act. The second act does have some enjoyable parts, and one can pick out the parts that will stand repeated viewings, and just skip over the others. I will admit that I've viewed the DVD in it's entirety only once; I have, on the other hand enjoyed the first and third acts, as well as selected parts of the second act many times.The added performances are, in their own ways, competently done. I just feel the flow of the second act is seriously compromised by all of the extra performances.On balance, I'm glad I have the DVD; the portions that I've mentioned favorably above are really quite good.

The singing and acting are good, but the show is much too long with unnecessary acts at the party. Gets very dull.