This series introduces, in words and music, the plot and background of major operas. Using the principal themes and arias, taken from the Naxos recording of the complete work, Thomson Smillie is informative yet entertaining, enabling the listener to get more from this remarkable art form.

Die Fledermaus is one of the few operatic works to which the phrase 'never a dull moment' can be truthfully applied. From the explosive opening of the famous overture - reminiscent of a volley of champagne corks - through the surging energy of the 'Fledermaus Waltz' and the many comic numbers, of which the accelerando trio is the finest, up to such huge concerted numbers as the 'Duidu' finale to Act II, this is an operetta which almost incarnates nostalgia.

Thomson Smillie and David Timson infuse their exploration of Die Fledermaus with as much life as the operetta itself. The most rewarding and memorable extracts are included, and the whole piece is tantalisingly introduced - a trip to see it has to be the next step! Timson begins, "'Nostalgia', as the saying goes, 'may not be what it used to be,' but thank goodness we still have Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus!"