It may be in English and with a home grown cast of Brits (who are clearly enjoying themselves) but this is a performance the like of which we no longer see and hear in London these days at its 2nd opera house.The star is Mackerras who conducts as he always did, with style and panache.This is a rendition to treasure and brings back many fond memories of performances I attended there in the 70’s.

This great cast brought Die Fledermaus to life. Highlights are Valerie Masterson as Adele & Ann Hood as Prince Orlovsky both showing their extensive experience in operetta. The recorded sound is of a good calibre. A pleasure to listen to.

Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus is difficult to translate to English, figuratively and literally. However, the English National Opera production from 1975 sports a completely persuasive, suave translation and the cast -- led by the elegant Dame Anne Evans and scintillating Valerie Masterson -- cannot be bettered. Sir Charles Mackerras conducts as though he had champagne flowing in his veins. Of live-performance Fledermaus recordings, this goes to the top of my list.

Very good and inspired performance in good sould quality, a little noisy (Hiss) but I already corrected this. Many Thanks!

This is a super performance and a good recording (the first 15 seconds aside).I missed seeing Ava June in the theatre and didn't know what to expect. She simply superb, as is Valerie Masterson, whose work I do knew well and because of whom I bought the set. These are world-class performances.It's a fun translation and the audience clearly love every minute. This is a lovely reminder of Sir Charles Mackerras's talent and his dedication to ENO. I would love to have attended this performance.

Only received Act 1 along with a disc of Gianni Schicci. Have been in touch but have heard nothing back . I am still waiting for Acts 2 & 3 to arrive

The British operetta tradition is a long and distinguished one and is on full display here. The English translation is witty and sensible and sticks quite closely to the meaning of the original German. The dialogue is charmingly and naturally delivered without that irritatingly mannered delivery that one sometimes hears in American operetta productions.Anne Evans is probably better known here in America as a Wagner specialist, but she was a fine lyric soprano before she ventured into the hochdramatisch repertoire. Her Rosalinda is extremely well-sung and that's saying something - Rosalinda's music is all over the place and one must also have poise and a sense of humor to make her convincing, both of which Evans has in spades. Masterson sounds like the audience favorite and who can blame them? She sparkles in Adele's two arias and makes her a very sexy, if strictly upper class, parlor maid.Jenkins and Opie are a dream team as Eisenstein and Falke, Opie leading the "Bruderlein" ensemble very beautifully. The other singers are just as good. Was there anything Mackerras didn't conduct well? The sound is very good barring a brief glitch at the beginning of the overture. There is some dialogue missing (not much) and I think the first verse of Orlofsky's "Chacun a son gout" aria has been lost in limbo, but otherwise there are no problems.Highly recommended especially to lovers of opera in English and/or people who love Fledermaus!

I really enjoyed this terrific performance of Die Fledermaus performed by the stalwart performers of ENO of bygone years.Terrific to hear them again. The whole thing wizzes along splendidly under the baton of Mackerras. Also good to hear once again the fine English libretto by Christopher Hassell, Ivor Novello’s librettist. Hassell captured just the right amount of poetry, comedy and romance. The sound, although a tiny bit distorted here and there is generally very clear . The recording also proves that in those days ENO artistes new how to act and sing at the same time!

Having seen most of these performances and having missed the broadcast I was happy to buy this.What a wonderful performance, for me the two stand outs are Masterson and Shilling, although this is a wonderfully sung performance by all. Great memories. There is a little dialogue missing.

Wonderful to have this record of some great voices (British and otherwise) from the ‘70s. Hope Opera Depot is soon able to make performances from the ‘80s available to us too. Performance recordings have an energy that most studio recordings just can’t seem to create.