1989 Die Fledermaus, Richard Strauss, Comic Opera Moscow
Die Fledermaus or The Bat, sometimes called The Revenge of the Bat, is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée. The original literary source for Die Fledermaus was Das Gefängnis (The Prison), a farce by German playwright Julius Roderich Benedix that premiered in Berlin in 1851. The French custom of a New Year’s Everéveillon, or supper party, was not considered to provide a suitable setting for the Viennese theatre, so it was decided to substitute a ball for the réveillon.
