Sunday Classics: Beginning a "Fledermaus" New Year's -- "Happy is he who forgets what can't be changed anyway" (continued)

Georges Prêtre conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the Overture to Die Fledermaus at the 2010 Vienna New Year's Day Concert.


IN THE OVERTURE WE'VE HEARD BITS OF THE TRIO THAT GETS
THE THREE EISENSTEIN HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS TO THE BALL

First Rosalinde shows off the depths of her despair at her impending abandonment by her prison-bound husband.

ROSALINDE: I must remain alone, then,
eight whole days without you!
I can't begin to describe to you
how horribly I'll suffer!
How shall I ever endure
my husband's absence?
To whom shall I recount my grief?
EISENSTEIN: O God, how upset I am!

Gundula Janowitz (s), Rosalinde; Eberhard Wächter (b), Eisenstein; Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 31, 1974

This leads directly into a bit of an explosion from all three secretly ball-bound grievers.

ROSALINDE, ADELE, and EISENSTEIN:
Oh goodness, how upset I am!

Gundula Janowitz (s), Rosalinde; Eberhard Wächter (b), Eisenstein; Carol Malone (s), Adele; Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 31, 1974

NOW I THINK WE MIGHT HEAR THE OVERTURE AGAIN

We'll be hearing the full scene on Sunday, but now I think we might listen to the Overture again, from the two performances we've been sampling. (Two of the three, actually, I guess. I suppose I could have made a digital dub of the Overture from the Danon-RCA performance, but I didn't. UPDATE: Well, I did -- it's an energetic, committed performance. By the way, we last heard Oskar Danon in a very different assignment: Borodin's Prince Igor.)

Die Fledermaus: Overture

Vienna Philharmonic, André Previn, cond. Philips, recorded November 1990
Bavarian State Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber, cond. Live performance, Dec. 31, 1974
Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Oskar Danon, cond. RCA, recorded June 1963

AND NOW LET'S HEAR WHAT HAPPENS ONCE EISENSTEIN
HAS MADE HIS EXIT, AND ALFRED HIS REAPPEARANCE

J. STRAUSS II: Die Fledermaus: Act I: Alfred-Rosalinde scene; Frank-Rosalinde-Alfred trio

You can find a German-English libretto here.

Richard Leech (t), Alfred; Kiri Te Kanawa (s), Rosalinde; Tom Krause (b), Frank; Vienna Philharmonic, André Previn, cond. Philips, recorded November 1990


IN TOMORROW NIGHT'S NEW YEAR'S EVE POST

We celebrate with -- what else? -- champagne. And then Sunday I will try to offer a few hints as to why I love Fledermaus so much.


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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