J Strauss II - Die Fledermaus

Bavarian State Opera Chorus and Orchestra / Carlos Kleiber

DG 457 765-2GOR2 Buy now

(107' · ADD · T/t)

Julia Varady sop Rosalinde; Lucia Popp sop Adele; Hermann Prey ten Eisenstein; René Kollo ten Alfred; Bernd Weikl bar Doctor Falke; Ivan Rebroff bass/mez Prince Orlofsky; Benno Kusche bar Frank; Ferry Gruber ten Blind; Evi List sop Ida Franz Muzeneder bass Frosch

Recorded 1975.

There’s still no recording of Die Fledermaus that, for many collectors, matches this one for the compelling freshness of its conductor’s interpretation – the attention to every nuance of the score and the ability to bring out some new detail, all allied to extreme precision of vocal and instrumental ensemble. The ladies, too, as so often seems to be the case in recordings of Die Fledermaus, are quite superlatively good, with ideally characterised and projected singing. If the men are generally less outstandingly good, one can have no more than minor quibbles with the Eisenstein of Hermann Prey or the Alfred of René Kollo. But it’s less easy to accept Ivan Rebroff singing the role of Orlofsky falsetto. Some collectors find that his contribution quite ruins the whole set but most will find it tolerable enough for the glories to be found elsewhere on the recording. DG remastered the set to make it sound as though it were recorded only yesterday.