A SUMMER concert taking place this Saturday (June 9) will capture the romance of the music of Vienna.

Bolton Choral Union is presenting An Evening of Romance, featuring the brilliant comic operetta Die Fledermaus (The Bat) by Johann Strauss, extracts from The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar, Tales of Hoffman, Jacques Offenbach and The Dancing Years by Ivor Novello.

Christina Harper, publicity officer, the concert would provide "a selection of wonderful musical promising an Evening of Romance and song featuring the Vine Ensemble and marvellous soloists".

She said: "Musically, Die Fledermaus is thoroughly high-spirited, with numerous waltz and polka themes.

"Die Fledermaus was Strauss’s third operetta for Vienna’s Theatre an der Wien.

"The piece was based on a popular French vaudeville comedy, its action tidied up for the supposedly more-elevated tastes of Viennese audiences.

"A case of mistaken identities, revenge, jail and masked balls. The characters in this operetta are unique, so you would never be bored by this operetta. Eisenstein and Rosalinde, Dr Falke also known as Dr. Bat, tomboy maid, Adele, and all other characters often cause the audience to laugh with their behaviour."

She added: "At its premiere, critics still found it scandalous, in part because its story of a practical joke spinning out of control seemed ill-suited for performance on what happened to be Easter Sunday. Audiences, however, immediately loved it!"

Christina said: "The Merry Widow is one of the gems of Viennese operetta; its dazzling success made Franz Lehar heir to Johann Strauss II. Reflecting the splendour of Imperial Vienna with its whirlwind of sumptuous parties and decor, the operetta stands out for the elegance and colour of an orchestration of symphonic scale."

The Evening of Romance takes placed at the United Reformed Church of St Andrew and St George Bolton at 7:30pm.

Tickets are £10 and are available on 01254 702979, Booths Music Shop and On the door from 7:00pm.