DIE FLEDERMAUS IN A POCKET / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

DIE FLEDERMAUS IN A POCKET

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (10 October 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 13 October 2025 with the title "SSO in the pocket with refreshing take on Die Fledermaus operetta".

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s occasional foray into the world of opera is an interesting move given that there has been no predominant opera company in the nation since the Singapore Lyric Opera’s halcyon years of the late 1990s. Government funding for opera is now shared by multiple opera companies, while other players like the Orchestra of the Music Makers have been taking on major opera productions such as Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

Thus, it was refreshing to encounter Johann Strauss the Younger’s best-loved operetta and perennial favourite Die Fledermaus (The Bat) produced by a local organisation which is neither Singapore Lyric Opera nor New Opera Singapore. This world premiere of an abridged 90-minute chamber version by Ronald Kornfeil, arranged by Thomas Barthel in a semi-staged production had much to recommend.

Firstly, a considerably pared-down SSO led by violinist Wang Xiaoming performed on stage behind the singers, lending a striking immediacy to the performance and the benefit of not playing in a pit. The famous Fledermaus Overture, performed in its entirety, was clear indication of the pleasure to come. For the vocal pieces, the musicians never drowned out the singers, who projected very well with unamplified voices.

The stand-out was soprano Flavia Stricker, helming the part of Rosalinde, the long-suffering wife of the charmingly smarmy Gabriel von Eisenstein, sung by tenor Maximilian Lawrie. Both are attending a Viennese high society and champagne-fuelled event without the knowledge of each other. So is their upwardly mobile maid-servant Adele, played by soprano Sun Ting, who has designs of her own.

The chemistry between the trio was light-hearted but secretly barbed, with their conversations providing exposition in English while arias and ensembles sung in German. Projected English surtitles were vital in establishing the narrative, which seamlessly shifted between both languages.

They were well supported by baritone Till von Orlowsky (as Falke, Eisenstein’s nemesis), soprano Teng Xiang Ting (Ida, Adele’s sister), tenor Jonathan Mark Macpherson (Alfred, Rosalinde’s love interest), mezzo-soprano Anna Koor (Prince Orlofsky, host of the ball) and bass Damian Whitely (prison governor Frank) in a speaking role.

The kooky story of revenge, stolen and mistaken identities, was pure farce delivered at a zippy pace. Within its 90-minute runtime, there was little to no capacity for boredom setting in. No synopsis was necessary, as every bit of action was leading to Eisenstein’s final comeuppance.

Most engaging and astonishing were how the memorable musical numbers seemed to roll off one another. The unbroken sequence between Orlofsky’s Chacun a son gout (To Each His Own), Adele’s Mein Herr Marquis, Rosalinde’s Klange Der Heimat (Sounds of My Homeland) or Csardas, leading to the Second Act’s duet Bruderlein und Schwesterlein (Little Brother and Little Sister) were the very reasons why this operetta remains so beloved.

Newcomers to opera can easily be won over by reduced productions such as this, and SSO should be empowered to continue exploring this aspect of audience building.