Die Fledermaus: Overture

Program notes

About the Work

The Berliner Philharmoniker end their season out of doors, at the Waldbühne, with an evening built on dance: waltzes and a csárdás from Vienna, two Hungarian and Spanish showpieces for the violin, a Russian ballet, the most notorious dance in opera, and Ravel’s dark portrait of the waltz itself. It starts where such evenings should, with Johann Strauss.

Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is his best-loved operetta. It was first given at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 5 April 1874, to a libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée. It is a comedy of flirtations, disguises and comeuppances in the Vienna of its own day, and its second act takes place at a masked ball, which is one reason so much of the score is dance music.

The overture is a trailer for what follows: a string of the operetta’s best tunes, one after another, each more tempting than the last.

What to Listen For

The first notes have been compared to three champagne corks popping, and champagne is what the whole operetta runs on. After that the melodies come in a cascade, with the great waltz among them.

What makes the overture exciting, and difficult, is how often it changes speed. A Strauss waltz or polka usually settles into its tempo and stays there. Here the music keeps slowing down, hesitating and racing off again, and the players have to turn together on each corner. It is a demanding piece for an orchestra and a famously enjoyable one to hear.