The celebrated 1985 Carlos Kleiber Munich recording has already appeared on DVD, and reappears now in his memory; TDK’s, from Vienna in 1980, has been extracted from Austrian TV archives. Nevertheless, they’re linked by more than coincidence, because they record two incarnations of the production staged by Otto Schenk, for many years Vienna’s resident Frosch, in Gunther Schneider- Siemssen’s lushly realistic sets. The comparison produces some unexpected results.

The virtues of Kleiber’s version are well known, in particular his graceful, elegant conducting, appropriately as crisp and clear as fine champagne, and as intoxicating – for many, close to an ideal. But while his cast also looks excellent on paper, it doesn’t reach the same standard. Eberhard Waechter, once Vienna’s perennial Eisenstein, is sadly worn, vocally and physically, and neither Pamela Coburn nor Janet Perry, finely though they sing, display quite the sparkle their roles demand; likewise Josef Hopferweiser and Wolfgang Brendel’s smug young Falke. Only veteran Benno Kusche and the incomparable Brigitte Fassbaender approach the ideal.Nevertheless, the production has plenty of energy, and with Franz Muxeneder’s crusty Frosch they carry it off well enough. The recording, well directed by Brian Large, is not bad, though it shows its age, and now comes equipped with quite effective surround soundtracks.

By contrast, the Vienna version has only stereo, but the sound and vision is surprisingly rather more vivid than Munich’s, and Schenk’s video direction is excellent. This was the production’s opening night, on Schenk’s Viennese home ground where the New Year Fledermaus is a major event, and there’s electricity in the air. The First Act feels slightly tentative; Lucia Popp seems a rather restrained Rosalinde, and Bernd Weikl’s beefy Eisenstein, despite his rich voice, is too inclined to bluster. But the young Edita Gruberová’s Adele – looking startlingly like Carry On’s Joan Sims – gains in comic confidence, Hopferweiser is in better voice (though nowhere near the glorious Dennis O’Neill in the Covent Garden DVD), the legendary Erich Kunz is a peppery little Frank, and Walter Berry, grinning with rubicund malice, a rich-voiced, hyperactive Falke.

With Act 2, all the fine ingredients seem to ferment; the party scene is the liveliest on DVD, dominated by Fassbaender’s Orlofsky, even finer and more definitive than Munich, a passionately hilarious character-study complete with moustache; and Popp’s ‘Countess’, happily unleashed in an outrageous Hungarian accent and paprika-coloured wig, sings gorgeously even if the last high note of ‘Klange der Heimat’ is rather squawked. There’s even some gloriously physical dancing by the whole cast in a Thunder and Lightning
The production was a tearaway success, and no wonder. In every respect except one it’s superior to the Munich version, and that is Theodor Guschlbauer’s conducting, vibrantly energetic but too hard-driven and lacking Kleiber’s aristocratic idiom.

Nevertheless, it contributes to the thrilling feel of this performance. It’s as well sung and recorded, and even as much fun as my other favourite version, Covent Garden’s 1983 polyglot romp, with an equally fine cast but rather stiffly conducted by Plácido Domingo. They both eclipse modern DVD rivals, Glyndebourne’s and a wretched Salzburg ‘deconstruction’; and as sheer recordings to enjoy, I’d recommend them both over Kleiber, and this echt-Viennese one most of all. Nobody, though, who believes in the worth of Strauss’s score should ignore Kleiber.