Santa Fe Opera 2: Divertissement

Few would argue that Die Fledermaus is a demanding work: its textbook plot has many turns but few surprises, and its music – like fried chicken, or any of the pastries at Ladurée – is guiltily enjoyable, if only in small doses. Yet only a total killjoy or disingenuous critic would claim that the production at this summer’s Santa Fe Opera was anything other than delightful. It may not be anyone’s idea of serious opera, but Ned Canty’s lively production, bolstered by several strong comedic performances, resulted in an engaging entertainment that made a virtue of its own frivolity.

The production was sung in English – in a translation by Ruth and Thomas Martin – and the dialogue was adapted by Charles Ludlam from W.S. Gilbert’s On Bail, itself a reworking of his earlier Committed for Trial, an adaptation of Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy’s…