BaL 24.09.22 - Strauss, J II: Die Fledermaus

[Barbirollians]

The Karajan/Decca Die Fledermaus is one of the few recordings by that team that I don’t have. It was a brilliant team.

Very much worth having .

[Parry1912]

The Previn is good, pity about the laughter track used in the party scene, one woman is particularly irritating.

She can’t be as annoying as Ivan Rebroff on the Kleiber recording

[Keraulophone]

Having a ball of her own…

https://youtu.be/UoTuh5ojh50

[Wolfram]

She can’t be as annoying as Ivan Rebroff on the Kleiber recording

Nothing in the entire history of recorded music is as annoying as Ivan Rebroff on the Kleiber recording.

[Wolfram]

She can’t be as annoying as Ivan Rebroff on the Kleiber recording

What I find most surprising about all this is that whereas Kleiber wouldn’t sanction his marvellous studio recording of Tristan he was quite happy to give the green light to this travesty of a performance. Rebroff’s tone is stretched beyond its limits by the role, his intonation is approximate and his whole interpretation is comic in completely the wrong way. Turn to Fassbaender for Boskovsky to hear how it should be done. All of which is a great shame because Kleiber’s conducting fizzes and sparkles and the rest of the cast are all excellent, led by Popp and Varady, the latter every inch the vamp as the grand ungarische Graffin in Act 2.

[CallMePaul]

I will miss this one (and the following week's BAL) as I will be in Greece. I have never heard this piece in full, just excerpts, but the performances that interest me most are Boskovsky and (pace Ivan Rebroff) Kleiber. I don't know yet whether I'll be catching-up on BBC Sounds.

[Barbirollians]

The Previn is good, pity about the laughter track used in the party scene, one woman is particularly irritating.

I must admit it has never bothered me though if I recall rightly Edward Greenfield had kittens about it Gramophone.

[smittims]

It's a pity that Fledermaus has been victim to various gimmicks that would be inconceivable in a recording of an opera by Britten or Monteverdi. Some works seem similarly unlucky. They used to mess about terribly with Henry Wood's 'Fantasia on British Sea Songs' at the Last Night.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's a pity that Fledermaus has been victim to various gimmicks that would be inconceivable in a recording of an opera by Britten or Monteverdi. Some works seem similarly unlucky. They used to mess about terribly with Henry Wood's 'Fantasia on British Sea Songs' at the Last Night.

True, though they don’t mess about with the Wood Fantasia so much now. Those extra bits added by Bob Chilcott were cringeworthy, to say the least. However, they do tear off Rule Britannia at the end, substituting it with Sargent’s arrangement of the complete song.

[Petrushka]

It's a pity that Fledermaus has been victim to various gimmicks...

The problem with an audio only recording of Fledermaus is that some 'gimmicks' are unavoidable if it isn't to fall flat. There is also a good deal of dialogue that moves the plot forward, especially in Act 3, and there you have the drunken gaoler, Frosch, who has to be believable without going completely OTT. Likewise the party in Act 2, which has to sound like a believable party without going way over the top.

In my view, the Boskovsky recording passes all these tests with flying colours and comes across as a very believable production. In addition to all that, you have Gedda, Fischer-Dieskau, Berry, Fassbaender, and Rothenberger all in fine form and you have a winner. The only downside is it's not the Wiener Philharmoniker but the Symphoniker but they play with great flair and sparkle for Boskovsky who knew this music inside out.

[smittims]

Good point petrushka. I suppose my view comes from a lifetime of just listening to the music!

[Maclintick]

I have the 1960/Decca/Karajan & will take a lot of persuading to cough up for another, but if there's one reviewer who could pull this off it's our own Makropulos.Boskovsky will be up with the front runners I'd imagine. Nice to see appreciation of Otto Ackerman, who was highly regarded by the Philharmonia players of that era.

[mikealdren]

I'll be listening with interest.

I have the earlier Karajan and the Fricsay which is superb but the sound, although amazing for 1949 and better than the Karajan, is still mono. Interesting comparing these versions, Karajan sound rather earthbound after Fricsay whose overture seems slow at the start but it's paced beautifully and from then on, it fizzes with a cast with no weak members. The Adele in both is the fabulous Rita Streich in a role she was born to sing, having said that she was better in 1949, a young voice that ideally fits the maid.

[CallMePaul]

I will miss this one (and the following week's BAL) as I will be in Greece. I have never heard this piece in full, just excerpts, but the performances that interest me most are Boskovsky and (pace Ivan Rebroff) Kleiber. I don't know yet whether I'll be catching-up on BBC Sounds.

Sadly I find that Boskovsky is download only and Kleiber only available as part of a larger box that would involve a number of duplications of performance. The Harnoncourt is also only in a larger box. The choice for somebody wanting a stand-alone recording on CD is very limited, especially as Presto says that a number are "out of stock at the UK distributor". When will the rercording companies learn?

[Petrushka]

Sadly I find that Boskovsky is download only and Kleiber only available as part of a larger box that would involve a number of duplications of performance. The Harnoncourt is also only in a larger box. The choice for somebody wanting a stand-alone recording on CD is very limited, especially as Presto says that a number are "out of stock at the UK distributor". When will the rercording companies learn?

The Boskovsky is readily available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/J-Strauss-F...al%2C59&sr=1-3

So is Kleiber: https://www.amazon.co.uk/J-Strauss-D...ar%2C59&sr=1-2