Cambridge Philharmonic Society
Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus
Saturday 6 December 2008

The members of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society were certainly all dressed up (well, at any rate, the ladies of the chorus were) and had somewhere to go at West Road on December 6. They were apparently bound for a party at the Vienna mansion of a bored Russian Prince by the name of Orlovsky; and whatever the Prince may have thought of the occasion, the near-capacity audience certainly enjoyed it to the full.

The ‘party’, of course, was the Prince’s Christmas party in Act II of Johann Strauss’s sparkling operetta, Die Fledermaus. The Phil’s excellent orchestra is more familiar, I should imagine, with the music of Richard Strauss (no relation to the great waltz king), yet it seemed to me that from the first chords of the overture they were ready to plunge into the heady champagne-laced waters of Johann II’s idiom with gusto and a fine sense of occasion.

Mind you, they were not only setting about something novel for the Phil in its 120-year history in tackling a Viennese operetta in concert form; they also submitted to the baton of no fewer than three conductors in a matter of minutes. Orlovsky’s party is by tradition enlivened by star guests; two of whom ceremonially dismissed Tim Redmond, who conducted with his usual zest and ear for detail, and took over the stick-wagging proceedings themselves with considerable aplomb. The culprits were the brilliant counter-tenor Andrew Watts, singing the part of Orlovsky, and the delectable TV presenter Katie Derham. Ms Derham, fresh from her conducting crash-course in the BBC’s Maestro programme, took the Phil and its audience spectacularly through a brisk performance of Johann Strauss senior’s Radetzky March complete with the customary audience participation − I bet we made at least as much noise with our clapping as they ever do at the Vienna Musikverein on New Year’s Day.

The chorus were on splendid form (complete with chorus-master Chris Whitton among the basses) and the team assembled for the solo parts was formidable, both in the English sense of the words and the French. I’ve already mentioned Mr Watts and wish only to add that if all counter-tenors could manage the part as well as he did, there would be sighs of anguish as well as admiration from the mezzos who traditionally sing the role in the theatre. The two star female parts were spectacularly taken by Tinuke Olafimihan as the Baroness and Rebecca Bottone as her pert maid Adele. The various male characters found suitable zestful exponents, both in musicianship and stage presence, of their various devious roles: Jeffery Lloyd Roberts, impressive in demeanour and huge of voice, as the not-so-complaisant husband Eisenstein; Carlos Nogueira as the baroness’ velvet-voiced old flame Alfred, and Omar Ibrahim as the scheming and vengeful Dr Falke. Those in the supporting and cameo roles also rate a mention: Katherine Crompton as Ida, Edward Lee as Dr Blind, Tristan Stocks as the prison governor Frank and − of course − David Timson, who is clearly marked out for honorary fellowship of the Phil, as the bibulous gaoler Frosch.

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