By Kelly Ferjutz
Die Fledermaus as an opera is sheer perfection—the perfect blending of story (libretto by Haffner & Nenée) and music by the ‘waltz king’ himself, Johann Strauss II. The translation for this production was by Ruth and Thomas Martin.
Ohio Light Opera (OLO) has gone all out to provide a wonderfully effervescent and scintillating vintage of a treat for its audience. It is as sparkling as the bubbly that pervades this opera from first scene to last. Seldom have three plus hours flown by so rapidly.
Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is a story of intrigue, masquerade, marital fidelity and revenge of a rather mild sort, all set amongst the sparkling high society of Vienna in the late 1800s. Gabriel von Eisenstein has played a practical joke on his good friend, Dr. Falke, leading the good doctor to conjure up his own prank for revenge. Eisenstein is married to the lovely Rosalinda, who was once madly in love with the tenor, Alfred, who is not above trying to win her back. Rosalinda’s maid, Adele, wishes to become an actress, as perhaps does her sister, Ida.
Falke invites all these folks (with the exception of Alfred) to a party at the home of his friend, the Russian Prince Orlofsky, the very bored Prince Orlofsky, who drinks vodka like it was water, and encourages his guests to follow his lead. Once Falke and Eisenstein are on their way, Alfred returns to visit Rosalinda, and is caught there by the Prison Warden, Frank, who has come to arrest Eisenstein for a minor offense! Finding a man in dressing gown, sharing a champagne dinner for two with a lovely lady, he naturally assumes that man to be the husband of the house, and takes Alfred into custody to begin his 8-day jail sentence.
In Act II, at the party thrown by Prince Orlofsky, Falke introduces Eisenstein as the Marquis Reynard, and Frank becomes a Chevalier. Adele and Ida are indeed actresses, and Rosalinda is a Hungarian Countess. After a night of partying and drinking more champagne (as well as singing to it) and lovely, lilting waltzes, Eisenstein goes off to the jail to turn himself in and begin his stay.
Act III begins in the jailhouse, as Frosch, the jailer, is awakened by Alfred’s serenade. By turns, all of the party-goers appear, each with their own goal in mind, and with the intention of untangling all the snarled threads of the individual stories. This short synopsis of the plot cannot begin to encompass all the twists and turns, but it would take too long to provide all the details.
The most important element of any opera production is the singing, and this cast was entirely superb. There was not a weak voice in the batch. There was no questionable intonation, no voice mis-matched to the character, no voice that could not be easily heard, even over the orchestra, capably led by Jonathan Girard. The acting was of the same high caliber as the singing!
Alfred was performed by Andrew Maughan. His clear, ringing tenor voice was perfectly suited for the role, which he also acted with relish. Rosalinda could hardly be faulted for being swayed by his high B-flat, even though she was now happily married to another man. Tara Sperry was an engaging Rosalinda, and her Csárdás in Act II was not only authentic sounding, but her dancing, as well. Anyone would have thought she was indeed Hungarian.
Eisenstein can easily be an almost unsympathetic character, but Daniel Neer redeemed him splendidly with his warm tenor and wonderful dancing ability. His friend Falke was superbly portrayed by Boyd Mackus. Michael Lucas did well in the small role of Dr. Blind, Eisenstein’s attorney.
Adele was performed by Emily Nelson as flirtatiously winsome and sassy, nearly stealing the show in Adele’s Laughing Song in Act II. In the smaller part of her sister Sally, Arielle Schmidt was properly cajoling in her efforts to keep her sister out of trouble. In the traditional pants role of the Prince, mezzo Olivia Maughan was everything this role requires, by turns majestic or comedic or bored, as in the famous Chacun à son gout.
Jayson Lebaron was the Warden, Frank. His baritone is rich and supple, as was his acting, whether intoxicated or sober. Jacob Allen’s Frosch, the jailer, was a bit staid, not nearly as tipsy and comedic as the jailer sometimes is. But still, he did well tramping around in his flipper feet!
The terrific costumes were by Stefanie Genda; set by Murdock Lucas; lighting by Weston Wilkerson, and sound by Andy Kauff. Carole Hagerman’s choreography never ceases to amaze me, but overall, it was the clever stage direction by Ted Christopher that gave this production its effervescence.
I do believe Herr Strauss would have been pleased had he been present for this performance. Certainly the near-capacity audience was.
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz, who writes: My most recently published book is Ardenwycke Unveiled (e-book and trade paper). Cerridwen has another contemporary romance from me, But Not For Love, currently available only as an e-book, but perhaps will be in print later this year. I hope to soon get around to completing some of the 30+ incomplete books in my computer!And now, after more than a few requests, I’ve started a blog about writing. You can find it here.
Wooster, OH 44691