As if listening live to tonight’s gala Met premiere of Die Fledermaus were not frivolity sufficient unto the end of the calendar year, La Cieca and Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin (pictured above, in no particular order) offer an alternative version of Strauss’s operetta for your amusement.

Johann Strauss: DIE FLEDERMAUS
English text and lyrics by Garson Kanin and Howard Dietz

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Eugene Ormandy, conductor

Gabriel von Eisenstein – Charles Kullman
Rosalinde – Ljuba Welitsch
Adele – Lily Pons
Falke – John Brownlee
Frank – Clifford Harvout
Alfred – Richard Tucker
Prinz Orlovsky – Martha Lipton
Dr. Blind – Paul Franke

Plus a very special Surprise New Year’s Eve Gala Sequence/Competition! Interpolated into the second act of this classic performance is a series of 20 “guest appearances” by famous and not-quite-so-famous artists. (This “interpolation” begins about one hour and seven minutes into the recording.) Your task, cher public, is to identify each artist and the selection he or she is singing (or speaking!), in the correct order, in the comments section below. The first commenter to correctly identify all 20 artists and selections will win 2014’s first Amazon Gift Card.

La Cieca

James Jorden (who wrote under the names "La Cieca" and "Our Own JJ") was the founder and editor of parterre box. During his 20 year career as an opera critic he wrote for the New York Times, Opera, Gay City News, Opera Now, Musical America and the New York Post. He also raised his voice in punditry on National Public Radio. From time to time he directed opera, including three unsuccessful productions of Don Giovanni. He also contributed a regular column on opera for the New York Observer. James died in October 2023.

Comments