ALTHOUGH sometimes seen as the quintessential Viennese operetta, Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus is in many ways atypical, not least in the absence of even one sympathetic character in Haffner and Genee's French-inspired libretto. This feature was highlighted in Lyric Opera's production at the NCH by Vivian Coates's deft semi-staging and Tony Morgan's linking narrative, delivered in a droll cockney accent a Ia Bob Hoskins in those telephone commercials.
The cast comprised a strong line-up of good vocal actors in which the two tenors, Ivan Sharpe as Eisenstein and Khosrow Mahsoori as Alfred, stole the main honours. They were the only singers whose words came across with any degree of clarity. Bad diction afflicted most of the other performers, particularly when the music was high or loud. Virginia Kerr's Roselinde, Kathryn Smith'a Adele and Stephen Wallace's counter-tenor Orlofsky were the worst offenders in this respect; and neither of the ladies was able to maintain a steady flow of tone in quick passages.
Patrick Doherty and Eugene Armstrong were sonorous as Falke and Frank and there was good support from Peter McBrien's Cantabile Singers. The whole thing was musically welded together by the accomplished conducting of Aidan Faughy. Conducting with his back to the singers, he managed to maintain total musical discipline without any compromising in the many land mines - those little pauses, delayed beats, accelerandos and hairline crescendos that pervade this score.
