Die Fledermaus

Die Fledermaus was first given at the Theater an der Wien on 5 April 1874, months after a stock-market crash had emptied Vienna's theatres. Karl Haffner and Richard Genée built the libretto from Das Gefängnis by Roderich Benedix and the French farce Le Réveillon by Meilhac and Halévy, whose Parisian setting they moved to a Viennese spa town. The initial run was short and the work's position was secured later, by revivals in Berlin and by Gustav Mahler bringing it into court opera repertoire. Its overture became a concert piece independent of the stage.