Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus
(Vienna, 1980)

Cast: Bernd Weikl (Eisenstein), Lucia Popp (Rosalinde), Erich Kunz (Frank), Brigitte Fassbaender (Orlofsky), Walter Berry (Falke), Edita Gruberova (Adele), Josef Hopferwieser (Alfred), Helmut Lohner (Frosch); Wiener Staatsoper, Theodor Guschlbauer (conductor), Otto Schenk (stage director, video director)

Recorded at Wiener Staatsoper on 31 December 1980

Issued on DVD by TDK in 2004 [DV-CLOPDFM, PAL/all regions, menus in English, subtitles in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish]

Technical details:
Aspect ratio 4:3
Sound LPCM Stereo

Running time: 169 minutes

Sung in German
If you want Fledermaus brilliantly sung and played in a true Viennese style, this is the DVD to get. It has limitations: the shtick (slapstick and verbal comedy) goes on too long and the sound and picture are not up to modern standards, but overall this recording captures the exuberance of Vienna celebrating the New Year as does no other. Try as you might, you will break up at the polka, delight in the accents, admire the singers' enthusiasm.

Popp, Weikl, Kunz and Berry are lost in their personae; vocally, only one missed note mars their achievement and even that is passed off as incidental - which it is in context. Fassbaender is fine physically, but for some overdoes the vocal effects. Gruberova is unendearing, but otherwise excellent on all counts. Hopferweiser is sufficient; Lohner is an acquired taste in the quantity offered. Most important of all, Guschlbauer leads an ideal orchestra with every inflection in place and the spirit flowing as freely as the Champagne.

The production is as expected: traditional throughout with rich settings and costumes respecting the era. Video is soft and direction is occasionally confusing. Voices can be off-mike, losing words despite clear enunciation. Of course, a greater limitation on understanding is that it is hard to catch details while laughing - and you will be laughing.
 
Related website:
TDK Mediactive www.tdk-music.com
 
Michael Richter, 12 January 2005
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.