This year’s annual full-length production by the San Francisco Conservatory Opera Program presented what is probably the best known Viennese operetta, Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II. Ironically, it had its origin as a French vaudeville play, Le réveillon, by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, both of whom had worked with Jacques Offenbach. The title refers to the French custom of a supper party on New Year’s Eve, which translated into a Viennese ball as easily as the French text translated into a German operetta libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.
Last night was the first time that a production on this scale was performed in the Concert Hall of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM). As Director Richard Harrell announced before the overture began, the Concert Hall has no orchestra pit. The musicians performed from the choir loft behind the stage and out of sight. The singers could see conductor Mark Morash only through a video projection on the rear wall of the hall itself.
Strauss was well established as “The Waltz King” by the time he began work on Fledermaus. Indeed, the extent of his productivity can be assessed from the operetta’s opus number: 362. (For the record, his “The Blue Danube” was his Opus 314.) It was the third of thirteen operettas he composed; and, from a musical point of view, it has no end of imaginative twists and surprises, particularly in the composer’s skill in avoiding simple four-square symmetry in his songs.
Ultimately, however, Fledermaus does not stand on musical virtues alone. Its effervescent qualities come not only from the free-flowing champagne in the plot line but also from the interplay of the music with cleverly rhymed light verse. Thus, among the most important credits for this production, it is important to single out Marcie Stapp’s English translation of the German text, whose rhymes and tropes made this setting a perfect marriage of words and music.
That text, however, was still just the foundation for the staging of the production itself. Harrell was responsible for the overall conception; but he was more than ably supported by Heather Mathews, who served not only as Assistant Director but also as Choreographer. Indeed, Mathews deftly merged these two roles, because the choreography was far from confined to dancing the waltzes and polkas in the ball scene of the second act. Every musical number in the score had choreographic elements, whether they involved the interplay of multiple characters or solo turns. (Note, by the way, that this “operetta” boasts two highly demanding coloratura roles, whose solos were given some of the most clever choreographic turns of the evening.) Then, of course, there are the sections that do not involve music, including the drunk scene at the beginning of the third act and the insertion of the mute servant Ivan in the second act, who managed to steal a good chunk of every scene simply by his physical presence.
As I observed in my preview piece, last night’s performance was the first of four. The production has been double-cast; so I shall not go into details about the solo roles. The casts alternate with the second cast performing tonight at 7:30 p.m. The first cast returns on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., followed by the second cast at the 2 p.m. Sunday matinee. The real magic, however, is in the thoroughly delightful blend of music, staging, and choreography, which promises to be consistent across all remaining performances.
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