Die Fledermaus

Composer: STRAUSS JR., Johann
  • Die Fledermaus (The Bat), Strauss’s most successful operetta, premiered on April 5, 1874,1 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.2
  • Die Fledermaus was adapted from a French libretto called Le réveillon by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, the same team that wrote the libretto to Bizet’s Carmen, Offenbach’s La belle Hélène, and many other French hits.  
    • A réveillon is a French midnight dinner party. To adapt the story for a Viennese audience, the scenario was changed to a Viennese ball.3
  • There is an anecdote connected with this work, that Strauss wrote the music in 42 nights. He did sketch the work quickly, in about six weeks, but the complete work wasn’t ready until the premiere, which took about six months from the beginning of composition.3
  • Synopsis from Naxos 

Sources

  1. Peter Kemp, “Strauss, Johann (ii),” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed January 4, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-6002278266.
  2. Andrew Lamb, “Fledermaus, Die,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed April 14, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000005972.
  3. Ibid.

Cut IDs

13713 13916 14119 14776 19476 21103 22930 23327 40541 40572 41321 45923 48835 49092 49093