Synopsis

The frustrated characters in the operetta Die Fledermaus can only endure their boring lives in stupor and intoxication. Role reversal and desperate libertinage at an uninhibited party do not lead to the longed-for freedom, however, but only to a terrible awakening the next morning. They remain chambermaids or unsuccessful lawyers, continue to dream of being playboys or having a great career and yet remain trapped in their dull married life and are thrown back on themselves.

The most famous Viennese operetta was written after the first great stock market crash (1874) of the Austrian Gründerzeit, when the whole of society speculated on the stock market as if in a frenzy and many lost their entire fortunes. Who are we when the frenzy is over and we look in the mirror the next morning? Whether Rosalinde or Gabriel, Ida or Adele, they all want to slip into another identity at any price and fail with their attempted escape from everyday life.

Die Fledermaus is a bitterly wicked comedy about vanity and desire, escape reflexes and an outsized longing for something else, even if no one knows exactly what that something else might be. No aspirin helps against the hangover the next morning, more champagne is needed, the intoxication must be increased again so that the flight from ourselves can continue.

What the ever-popular work can tell us about the present day is explored in a new production led by Karel Deseure (conductor), Dirk Schmeding (director) and Pascal Seibicke (set & costumes) and featuring the singers of Dutch National Opera Academy.