WEBVTT 1 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:29.980 The very graceful looking lamp, made of curves, 2 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.380 is covered with iron ornamentation. 3 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:35.420 Actually, you don't see street lamps like this anymore. 4 00:00:36.180 --> 00:00:40.780 Their gas light illuminated another place and another time, 5 00:00:40.900 --> 00:00:43.120 such as this place and this time. 6 00:00:43.680 --> 00:00:47.840 Now this is an out of the way square in Imperial Vienna. 7 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:50.660 The year is about 1860. 8 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:53.260 And over there is a costume shop. 9 00:00:54.300 --> 00:00:57.720 Behind that flows the Danube, when it was still blue. 10 00:00:57.720 --> 00:01:02.720 And in a few minutes, dawn will break over this gay and improbable city. 11 00:01:03.080 --> 00:01:07.840 And with it will begin the gay and improbable story of De Flatermouse, the bat. 12 00:01:08.440 --> 00:01:12.200 Now our story will be told through the sweep of the dance. 13 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:15.200 Our actors, members of the Ruth Page Ballet. 14 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:24.500 For the next full hour then, an adventure into ballet on great music from Chicago. 15 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:37.240 Choreographed by Ruth Page, conducted by Neil Cain, and directed for television by Richard Dorsuch, 16 00:01:37.880 --> 00:01:41.240 great music from Chicago presents Dr. Bat, 17 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:45.960 a ballet adaptation of Johann Strauss opera De Flatermouse. 18 00:01:46.400 --> 00:01:48.400 In a moment, our ballet story begins. 19 00:02:00.020 --> 00:02:05.680 As dawn pauses down the street a few blocks, it's rather hard to imagine that this idyllic silence 20 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:09.800 is about to be shattered by not one, but two riotous groups of revelers. 21 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:13.380 First, Eisenstein, who should have been home with his wife hours ago, 22 00:02:13.380 --> 00:02:16.240 enters with his entourage of all-night celebrators. 23 00:02:16.380 --> 00:02:20.280 And then later, his great friend Dr. Falky reels onto the scene 24 00:02:20.280 --> 00:02:24.640 with two more nameless, but not necessarily guileless girls. 25 00:02:25.300 --> 00:02:30.440 Certainly the last to suspect any of this is the gentle little proprietor of this costume shop, 26 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:37.000 who just now is about to awaken and greet what he believes will be another impeccable Viennese day. 27 00:11:34.920 --> 00:11:42.080 So ends Act One, with Dr. Falky angrily contemplating his revenge on his sometime friend, Eisenstein, 28 00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:46.620 a revenge which we shall see developing as Act Two begins in just a moment. 29 00:12:00.200 --> 00:12:03.860 The dance is among the oldest forms of human expression. 30 00:12:04.100 --> 00:12:06.560 Essentially in dancing, the body speaks. 31 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:11.460 The language may be stately and ritualistic, or it may, as on this occasion, 32 00:12:11.780 --> 00:12:16.340 batter in the light and frivolous language of gay spirits and delightful foolery. 33 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:21.080 The ballet, as we know it, originated in Europe about the beginning of the 17th century. 34 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:26.300 True, it had its origin in the medieval court pageant and religious processional, 35 00:12:26.660 --> 00:12:31.660 but at first in Italy, then in the royal courts and for the private entertainment of the nobility, 36 00:12:32.420 --> 00:12:36.260 the ballet took on the gaiety and make-believe of the court masque. 37 00:12:36.380 --> 00:12:40.220 Since the ballet began as a brilliant presentation in the great houses, 38 00:12:40.740 --> 00:12:42.860 it demanded the service of skilled directors. 39 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:48.120 Exceptional musicians were engaged to provide the finest orchestral accompaniment. 40 00:12:48.460 --> 00:12:52.860 Ballet has always carried with it an atmosphere of cultivated taste and special elegance. 41 00:12:53.720 --> 00:12:59.340 As an art form and as a narrative device, ballet was soon seen on the operatic stage. 42 00:12:59.560 --> 00:13:04.760 By the early 18th century, the ballerina had taken her place upon the public stage. 43 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:10.120 An earlier tradition actually had barred women performers from the theater, as it does in China today. 44 00:13:10.120 --> 00:13:16.220 By the 19th century, the golden century of ballet, freedom of costume and casting, staging and movement, 45 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:19.680 gave the ballet outstanding movement and pictorial beauty. 46 00:13:20.060 --> 00:13:25.600 The Russian ballet made its brilliant impact upon the Western world in the first decades of the 20th century. 47 00:13:26.300 --> 00:13:31.120 The present ballet adaptation is, of course, the frothiest of stories and in the gayest of moods. 48 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:36.980 Its climax, appropriately, a mass revel, because in exactly such a revel, 49 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.880 we may expect the most improbable complications. 50 00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:47.000 The work is carefree, animated, exactly as worldly and witty as we might expect Vienna to be. 51 00:13:52.420 --> 00:14:01.420 And now in the boudoir of Eisenstein's wife, Rosalinda, the maid utters that classic feminine response upon receiving an invitation to the ball. 52 00:14:01.880 --> 00:14:04.140 But I simply haven't a thing to wear. 53 00:14:04.140 --> 00:14:08.340 Otto the Ballet tries to console her by offering her the mistress clothes. 54 00:14:09.300 --> 00:14:17.420 Soon Dr. Falka's revenge takes shape as he manipulates the invitations to the masked ball so as to send the Ballet with Rosalinda 55 00:14:17.420 --> 00:14:21.220 and the maid with Eisenstein, all unknown to each other. 56 00:14:21.880 --> 00:14:27.040 In the meantime, the Ballet and the maid console each other with their dreams of grandeur. 57 00:15:01.320 --> 00:15:04.120 The Ballet 58 00:15:04.140 --> 00:15:08.140 The Ballet 59 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:04.120 The Ballet 60 00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:34.120 The Ballet 61 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.120 The Ballet 62 00:17:04.140 --> 00:17:08.140 The Ballet 63 00:18:01.320 --> 00:18:04.120 The Ballet 64 00:18:04.140 --> 00:18:08.140 The Ballet 65 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 66 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 67 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 68 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 69 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 70 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:34.120 71 00:19:01.300 --> 00:19:04.100 The Ballet 72 00:19:04.120 --> 00:19:08.120 The Ballet 73 00:19:33.560 --> 00:19:33.600 The Ballet 74 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.600 75 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.600 76 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.600 77 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.600 78 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.880 The Ballet 79 00:19:33.880 --> 00:19:37.880 The Ballet 80 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 81 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 82 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 83 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 84 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 85 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:03.860 86 00:20:03.860 --> 00:20:07.860 The Ballet 87 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 88 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 89 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 90 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 91 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 92 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:33.840 93 00:20:33.840 --> 00:20:37.840 The Ballet 94 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 95 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 96 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 97 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 98 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 99 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:03.820 100 00:21:03.820 --> 00:21:07.820 The Ballet 101 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 102 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 103 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 104 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 105 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 106 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:33.800 107 00:21:33.800 --> 00:21:37.800 The Ballet 108 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 109 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 110 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 111 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 112 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 113 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:03.780 114 00:22:03.780 --> 00:22:07.780 The Ballet 115 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 116 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 117 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 118 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 119 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 120 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:33.760 121 00:22:33.760 --> 00:22:37.760 The Ballet 122 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 123 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 124 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 125 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 126 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 127 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:03.720 128 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:07.720 The Ballet 129 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 130 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 131 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 132 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 133 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 134 00:23:33.700 --> 00:23:33.700 135 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:03.680 The Ballet 136 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 137 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 138 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 139 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 140 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 141 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:03.680 142 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:07.680 The Ballet 143 00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:33.660 144 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:37.680 The Ballet 145 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 146 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 147 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 148 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 149 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 150 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:03.660 151 00:25:30.840 --> 00:25:33.640 The Ballet 152 00:25:33.640 --> 00:25:33.640 153 00:29:03.660 --> 00:29:09.500 Johann Josef and Edward Strauss, sons of the Viennese composer and conductor, Johann Strauss the Elder, 154 00:29:10.040 --> 00:29:18.700 set the world to dancing Viennese waltzes for a half century and more after 19-year-old Johann took over his father's orchestra in 1844. 155 00:29:19.600 --> 00:29:21.880 Johann the Younger went on to become the waltz king. 156 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:28.000 He was indeed the most popular dance conductor in Europe during the closing decades of the 19th century. 157 00:29:28.600 --> 00:29:32.220 He was a kind of musical spokesman, an ambassador for Vienna. 158 00:29:32.220 --> 00:29:38.580 He and his music represented all the charm and the elegance and the sophistication of the Habsburg capital. 159 00:29:39.360 --> 00:29:46.280 Strauss was no flamboyant virtuoso, as was Liszt, no enormously controversial figure, as was Wagner. 160 00:29:47.040 --> 00:29:50.420 Even so, he was a carefully trained and highly talented musician. 161 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:57.620 He was, among other things, a stout champion of Wagner when Tannhäuser and Lohengrin were under popular and critical fire. 162 00:29:57.620 --> 00:30:01.920 He admired Liszt. He freely acknowledged his debt to the fiery Hungarian. 163 00:30:02.600 --> 00:30:08.400 But his talents did not resemble the dramatic gifts of the one nor the presence of the other. 164 00:30:09.020 --> 00:30:12.960 Strauss took over the waltz as a kind of undeveloped musical province. 165 00:30:13.760 --> 00:30:20.080 In form and content, he perfected it, beginning with the simple native form Strauss made of the cheerful Austrian dance, 166 00:30:20.520 --> 00:30:24.420 no more, no less than all the great masters made of their own folk materials. 167 00:30:24.420 --> 00:30:31.020 He made it an enduring work of art. He wrote light music, indeed, he wrote primarily for dancing, 168 00:30:31.380 --> 00:30:34.600 but he wrote in accents and terms of grace and genius. 169 00:30:35.320 --> 00:30:38.240 Brilliant, melodic, fresh, and daring. 170 00:30:38.800 --> 00:30:43.740 Next, we're to hear a Strauss sequence from, of all settings, a conventional masked ball. 171 00:30:48.360 --> 00:30:58.400 Enter Dr. Falkke as the ballmaster, gleefully awaiting the culmination of his plot and the embarrassment of his tormentor of the costume shop square, Herr Eisenstein. 172 00:30:59.160 --> 00:31:05.740 For what could be more embarrassing than to discover that the woman with whom you've been flirting is none other than your wife, 173 00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:13.080 or to have the maid discover that the man with their mistress is none other than her own fiancé, the ballad? 174 00:31:13.080 --> 00:31:23.000 As Dr. Falkke welcomes his guests, he knows that the machinery of this plot is irrevocably turning, and the triumph of the bat's revenge is his.