Johann Strauss, Jr.’s buoyant, ebullient 1874 operetta is as light as a Schaumtorte and just as tasty. It’s perched delicately on the boundary between opera and operetta. While having lots of operetta touches (jealous husbands, cheating wives, mistaken identities, and a friend left sleeping in the town square in a bat costume) and plenty of dance music (czardas, polka, quickstep, and, of course, waltz), it’s musically more complex than most other Viennese operetta and from the unmistakeable first three notes of its famous overture to its closing chords it is simply a delight. I sincerely believe that it is impossible for any competent opera company to produce a really bad Fledermaus. For all of these reasons and because it’s just plain fun, Die Fledermaus represents the very pinnacle of Viennese operetta and is one of only a handful to remain in the common repertory.
The performance of Die Fledermaus we attended on Saturday at Chicago’s Lyric Opera was a production we’d seen before with appropriate period costumes and attractive if stagey sets. It was an adequate performance and, of course, loads of fun.
There was one frightening moment: at the beginning of Act II it was announced that Alice Coote, our Count Orlofsky, was unable to perform and was to be replaced by her understudy (whose name I didn’t catch) who had only just arrived at the opera house. The understudy performed very well under trying circumstances and she deserved the ovation she received from her fellow cast-members.
I found the two principles, Andrea Rost as Rosalinde von Eisenstein and Bo Skovhus as her husband, Gabriel von Eisenstein, disappointing. They were physically well-suited to their parts and Ms. Rost’s acting was quite good but I found her vocally simply not up to the part. Her high notes really weren’t there and, by the end of the performance, she was nearly inaudible (it wasn’t our seats: we have orchestra seats in an acoustically optimal location). Mr. Skovhus on the other hand couldn’t seem to keep time.
Every other principle and supporting player without exception was excellent.
The standout performance was Marlis Petersen’s as Adele, the saucy parlormaid (for much of the operetta pretending to be an actress). Physically, vocally, and in terms of acting her performance was simply superb. This was the German coloratura’s Lyric Opera debut and I look forward to seeing her performances in the future. Selfishly, I hope she doesn’t get beyond Lyric’s grasp although with her talent and skills that’s a pretty good likelihood.
All in all it was a pleasant evening at the opera that could have been wonderful with a couple of better performances.
The season so far: Roméo et Juliette, Salome, Turandot, Die Fledermaus, Iphigenie en Tauride, Il Trovatore. Advantage to Roméo et Juliette.
