Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana—Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus (The Bat)

The world’s best-loved operetta—awash with melody, wit, intrigue and champagne!

Premiered in 1874 in Vienna and rarely absent from the world’s opera stages since, Die Fledermaus (The Bat) is the most popular and most performed of any operetta: a fizzing comedy of mistaken identity, seductive games and amorous intrigue among extravagant party people. Beneath the gaiety and humour lies a sharper comedy about bourgeois hypocrisy. The result is slyly subversive, but always sparkling, melodious and fun.

At the centre of the story is the pleasure-seeking Gabriel von Eisenstein, who’s on his way to prison but is persuaded to take a detour to Prince Orlofsky’s lavish masked ball. Beneath the shelter of masks and false identities, a fireworks display of misunderstandings is set ablaze: his wife appears as a Hungarian countess, the housemaid poses as an actress, the prison governor arrives as a French marquis—all part of an elaborate revenge plot by Eisenstein’s friend Dr Falke, still smarting from a humiliation involving a bat costume.

Johann Strauss II wrote a treasury of glorious dance music, but nothing so irresistible as in this work. Its waltzes, polkas and ensembles carry the comedy from the effervescent overture to the famous champagne toast. Die Fledermaus calls for the combined forces of an opera company—orchestra, soloists, chorus and dancers—and the Slovenian National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana has all of this, and so much more.

Advance Bookings will start at 10am on 7 October 2026