Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus

“Die Fledermaus,” chef d’œuvre of the waltz king Johann Strauss, is still up to date today. Or better: just again. The situation in 1874, when this operetta was first performed, surpassed the present crisis in drama: the collapse and police closure of the Vienna Stock Exchange on May 9, 1873, led to more than 100 bankruptcies in just one day. Millionaires suddenly became beggars.

So even then there were good reasons for that “Happy is he who forgets what cannot be changed after all,” which flutters like a banner over “Die Fledermaus.” positive thinking in times of crisis.