Carl Haffner

Live performance from the Metropolitan Opera, 31 December 1986.

Witty, fun, intoxicating film of Johann Strauss II's popular operetta, based on a stage production from Vienna State Opera; this is a showcase for the entire cast, but most especially Eberhard Wächter as the insufferably boorish Gabriel Eisenstein, and Gundula Janowitz as his long-suffering wife. Open the champagne, have yourself some torte, and enjoy this delectable comedy from Vienna.

The delightful Johann Strauss comic opera Die Fledermaus was mercilessly lampooned in this truly bizarre production. For starters, a framing device has been added: After appearing in 300 consecutive appearances of Fledermaus (which translates as The Bat) the lead tenor (Georg Alexander) imagines that he's seeing bats everywhere. Driven a bit over the edge by all this, he falls asleep and has a nightmare about the opera, with a group of non-singers cast in the leading roles. The original libretto about romantic assignations, political imprisonments and mistaken identity is burlesqued to the hilt: at one point, the hero finds out that his prison cell is surrounded by rubber tubes!

Facing a short term in prison, wealthy Eisenstein heads off to a masquerade ball to enjoy his last evening of freedom. But Eisenstein's wife, Rosalinde, and her chambermaid Adele show up to the costume party in disguise, and each try to teach him a lesson or two. This revival of Johann Strauss's operetta performed by Opera Australia stars Anthony Warlow and Ghillian Sullivan.