'Die Fledermaus'

Charles T. Downey, Virginia Opera's "Die Fledermaus" at George Mason University
Washington Post, December 3, 2012

J. Strauss, Die Fledermaus, E. Schwarzkopf, N. Gedda, Philharmonia Orchestra, H. von Karajan

The Virginia Opera’s 2011-12 season was marked by daring programming and innovative staging, a gutsy move for a company that has just undergone a crisis in leadership. But it was a short-lived experiment. After an unsuccessful attempt to get a new company off the ground, ousted artistic director Peter Mark was welcomed back into the Virginia Opera fold last month, with the company even agreeing to mount the productions Mark had planned for the coming year. The move seals the Virginia Opera’s return to a more conservative strategy, a shift borne out by its latest production, Johann Strauss II’s “Die Fledermaus,” seen Friday night at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts.

This evergreen operetta has its appeal, played for all of its champagne-cork-popping effect in an effervescent, even manic staging by Dorothy Danner, revived from 2006. The cast, more satisfactory than striking, went with the antics physically but did not always deliver vocally, including the overextended Rosalinde of soprano Emily Pulley and baritone Philip Cutlip’s Eisenstein, cracking at the top of the role by the end. Continue reading]

J. Strauss, Die Fledermaus
Virginia Opera
GMU Center for the Arts

SEE ALSO:
Mike Paarlberg, Holy Cornballs, Batman! Virginia Opera’s Die Fledermaus (Washington City Paper, December 1)

Jens F. Laurson, Holy Leaden Joke, Batman! (Ionarts, April 14, 2004)