Review of Strauss, J: Die Fledermaus (2 disc set)

Introduction

What-ho, culture-vultures. If you thought DVD was purely the province of blockbuster movies and well-worn tv series, then here`s something suitably rarified.

The Glyndebourne Festival Opera marries a top-notch international opera cast with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to bring to your screen Johann Strauss II`s comic operetta Die Fledermaus. Three hours and sixteen minutes of Straussian extravaganza spread over two discs. The first and second acts are carried on the first disc (a DVD-9) and the third act and extras are on the overflow second disc (a DVD-5).

First performed in 1874, Die Fledermaus is a comic operetta based on an earlier French farce called Le Reveillon. As with all farces, the storyline is a little too involved to go into here, but suffice to say it`s all a question of misunderstandings and pranks played upon one another.

The score includes a number of Strauss`s "Dances" (Russian, Spanish, Bohemian and Hungarian) familiar to even the most unfamiliar with classical music. The curtain call and credits are to the Radetzky March which I defy anybody not to know (it`s the one that goes rubber duck rubber duck rubber duck duck duck). That`s the one.

It`s really a shame that so many barriers must be put up between things like opera and us normal folks. Opera is frequently (inevitably) seen by many as being elitist and rarified. Wouldn`t it be interesting to try to make this kind of thing more accessible? Now before you elitists start howling about compromising the artistic integrity of the piece, remember that grand performances such as this wouldn`t be possible without the support of bodies funded by the great majority. Would it absolutely kill you to hear an English language adaptation if it meant opera could rely on millions of fans rather than a privileged handful?

Video

The opera is presented in anamorphic 16:9 from a widescreen video source. Quality is excellent, offering a pristine record of the performance.

Audio

The default audio track on the disc is a basic LPCM Stereo. It`s satisfactory, but if you have the decoder, the 5.1DTS soundtrack is a revelation. It places you in the auditorium, surrounded by the music of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The voices are screen-centric as they should be.

Features

There are short interviews with the cast; a short piece about the choreography "Genesis of Waltz" (the Strausses were of course the masters of the style); an eight-minute piece about Glyndebourne`s new opera house and the four-minute "Frosch Interlude", where Udo Samel takes to the stage in character to tell the audience a little something of the history of champagne.

While the operetta itself (sung in the original German) carries English subtitles, the extras only carry multilingual subtitles.

Conclusion

I`m personally in awe of opera singers. It must be marvellous to be able to make that much racket all on your own. While this disc will readily find an audience who cannot readily attend the Glyndebourne Festival, I`d hope it might entice those dithering on the sidelines of actually trying a bit of traditional culture to dive in. Personally, I can`t wait for the sequel - "Die Fledermaus: Die Harder".