Sunday Classics, New Year's Eve edition: "In the fiery sap of the vine, there sparkles a life divine": The King of All Wines, Champagne!

Prince Orlofsky: "And now, ladies and gentlemen, for some refreshment. And let me propose a toast to his august majesty, King Champagne!"

Mildred Miller (ms), Prince Orlofsky; Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Tibor Kozma, cond. Metropolitan Opera Record Club, recorded c1955

by Ken

Last night I set out to try to explain what makes Die Fledermaus so special to me. We'll finish that discussion tomorrow. Tonight we'll just use the operetta as a jumping-off point for celebrating New Year's Eve -- starting, rather unoriginally, with the Champagne Trio of Act II, of which we heard just the first stanza, Prince Orlofsky's, above.

In the click-through we'll have a special gala musical celebration. For now, let's hear the full trio, still in English, from the LP's worth of excerpts made at the time of the Met production of Die Fledermaus that was part of Rudolf Bing's first season as general manager, 1950-51. (With artist contracts split between record rivals Columbia and RCA, some cast members participated in Columbia's official Met complete recording, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, while some -- notably the Orlofsky, Risë Stevens, sang in the RCA excerpts LP under Fritz Reiner.) We should note that this performance reverses the sequence of the second and third stanzas, with Eisenstein going second and Adele third.

J. STRAUSS II: Die Fledermaus: Act II, Champagne Trio (in English)

Risë Stevens (ms), Prince Orlofsky; James Melton (t), Gabriel von Eisenstein; Patrice Munsel (s), Adele; Robert Shaw Chorale, RCA Victor Orchestra, Fritz Reiner, cond. RCA, recorded c1950


FOR FURTHER TRIBUTE TO KING CHAMPAGNE, AND OUR
SPECIAL NEW YEAR'S EVE MUSICAL GALA, CLICK HERE

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