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Staged in the Czech original with Czech, English and German titles.

Duration: 3 hours including 2 intermissions.

Synopsis of the Opera

Don’t play pranks on your friends; they might just pay you back in the future. Or, as Dr. Falke puts it: “Postponed is not forgotten!”

Act I

Adele, the chambermaid of the Eisenstein household, receives an invitation to Prince Orlofsky’s ball, seemingly from her sister Ida. Now she just needs to convince Rosalinde to give her the night off, so she invents a story about a sick aunt. Rosalinde, however, has other worries: her husband, Gabriel von Eisenstein, is at court, finding out just how long he will have to spend in prison. To make matters worse, her old flame, the tenor Alfred, appears and starts serenading her under the window. He even climbs inside and refuses to leave unless Rosalinde promises to meet him later tonight.

As soon as she slams the window shut behind him, a furious Eisenstein returns with Dr. Blind, whom he blames for incompetence and for getting his sentence extended. The lawyer argues that Eisenstein is the one at fault, but is promptly kicked out of the house. Eisenstein is preparing to head to jail when Dr. Falke arrives. Falke convinces him that the cell can wait until morning because tonight belongs to a grand ball hosted by a mysterious Swedish prince. Eisenstein is easily persuaded, dresses in his finest evening wear, and after a touching farewell to Rosalinde, leaves to “do his time.”

Needing to get rid of Adele because of Alfred, Rosalinde grants her the night off. Adele loses no time, secretly borrows her mistress’s ball gown, and rushes to the party. Alfred reappears and immediately makes himself at home, even putting on Eisenstein’s dressing gown. At that moment, Frank, the prison warden, rings the bell, having come to escort Eisenstein to jail personally. Rosalinde begs Alfred not to give her away, and he is taken to prison in her husband’s place.

Act II

Dr. Falke promises Prince Orlofsky—who is bored to death with life—a great amusement in the form of “The Revenge of the Bat.” The first player in the game soon arrives: Eisenstein, whom Falke introduces to society as a marquis. Shortly after, Frank arrives and is passed off as a chevalier. The situation gets tangled when Eisenstein bumps into Adele, who is pretending to be a rising young artist named Olga (Freya). Falke promises the arrival of a beautiful Hungarian countess, who must remain unrecognized.

It is none other than Rosalinde, whom Falke invited so she could see how her Gabriel is “suffering” in prison. Rosalinde arrives in a mask, and Eisenstein decides to seduce her using his famous repeating watch. However, during the flirtation, Rosalinde snatches the watch and refuses to give it back.

Everyone wants to know the story behind the “Bat” nickname, and Eisenstein laughingly recounts how he and Falke once went to a masquerade ball—Eisenstein as a butterfly and Falke as a bat. They both got drunk, and Eisenstein drove Falke to a small forest on the edge of town, leaving him there asleep. Falke then had to walk home in broad daylight in his bat costume, to the great amusement of the entire town. The night flies by, and it is time for the merry, and thoroughly tipsy, company to say their goodbyes.

Act III

In the prison, the jailer Frosch wants nothing more than to sleep off his hangover, but Alfred’s constant singing keeps him awake. Warden Frank returns, also suffering from a monstrous hangover. Soon, Adele and Ida show up at the prison doors, trying to persuade Frank to sponsor Adele’s artistic career. Rosalinde arrives as well, trying to convince Alfred that he must disappear before her husband shows up.

But Eisenstein is already at the gates, demanding his cell and explaining to Frank that he is not a marquis, but Eisenstein. Frank thinks it’s a great joke, as he personally arrested Eisenstein from his wife’s arms the night before. Eisenstein calls for the lawyer, Dr. Blind, who is due to arrive any minute. When Blind arrives, Eisenstein disguises himself in the lawyer’s clothes to find out what happened between Rosalinde and Alfred.

Finally, he reveals his true identity and threatens Rosalinde with punishment for her infidelity. She, however, pulls out his watch, forcing Eisenstein to capitulate. The rest of the party, led by Falke, arrives at the prison. Falke confesses that he arranged the entire charade as “The Revenge of the Bat.” In the end, everyone reconciles, happily agreeing that the ultimate culprit was, after all, the champagne.

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