Die Fledermaus/New Year's Concert

Strauss, Johann II

A Double Shot of Viennese Finery

Here are two distinct slivers of history: an excellent representation of the Johann Strauss operetta Die Fledermaus and the first recording of the Vienna Philharmonic's now annual "New Year's" concert, which is devoted to the waltzes and polkas of the city's heritage, many written by the Strauss family.

Performed here without between-songs spoken dialogue, Die Fledermaus is a polarizing work—some dismiss it as provincial fluff, others hold it up as some of the best music of the nineteenth century. Even its detractors have to acknowledge this much: There's genius in these melodies, broadly lyrical lines that carry character portraits while glancing at subtle undercurrents of human emotion. Strauss (1825–1899) was a master of the local delicacy, the Viennese waltz, and uses it to tell a saucy tale about rich people acting out sexually at a masquerade ball. The plot resembles that of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and like that work contains episodes of brash cavorting as well as more introspective moments. "Ach, meine Herr'n und Damen" is a simple motif that approximates the cadences of hearty (and contagious) laughter. A bit later, in the "Csardas: Klage der Heimat," Hilde Gueden (as Rosalinde) sings in lavish descending spirals "around" the melody, in a way that suggests an inescapable regret.

The conductor, Clemens Krauss, was working with the Vienna Philharmonic during World War II; among his ideas was a free concert celebrating Austrian music, an affirmation of culture while the population, still suffering hardship, rebuilt the city's hallowed performance spaces. The concert became a tradition on New Year's Day, and is now broadcast live throughout Europe. Disc two of the surprisingly crisp transfer contains what's known as "New Year's" concert No. 1, from September 1951. It opens with Strauss's magnificent "Tales from the Vienna Woods," which features the Viennese zither. In this excellent rendering, it's possible to hear not only the orchestra's customary precision, but its uniquely "Viennese" phrasing: As the music swells to mark some key culminating point in the waltz, the group, en masse, pauses ever so slightly. Turns out this "lilt" is polarizing too: Some conductors believe it can be taught, while others contend it never feels right unless it's in your bones. Which it clearly is here.

Genre: Classical, Opera
Released: 1992, Decca
Key Tracks: Die Fledermaus: "Ach, ich darf nicht hin zu dir!," "Also, noch verschärft die Strafe?" New Year's Concert: "Tales from the Vienna Woods," "The Dragonfly," "Egyptian March."
Another Interpretation: Die Fledermaus, Berlin Philharmonic (Herbert von Karajan, cond.).
Catalog Choice: 19 Waltzes, Wiener Johann-Strauss Kammerorchester (Willi Boskovsky, cond.).
Next Stop: W. A. Mozart: The Marriage of Figaro
After That: Richard Strauss: Capriccio, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Philharmonia Orchestra (Wolfgang Sawallisch, cond.).
Book Pages: 746–747