Four years shy of its centennial, a long-neglected international hit from Czechoslovakia resurfaces in Vienna, possibly to claim a new lease on life. Part folk tale, part fairy tale, Jaromír Weinberger’s Švanda dudák revolves around the newlyweds Schwanda the Bagpiper and Dorota, whose domesticity is invaded by a highway robber in a jam. Before the tale is told, it’s Schwanda who is in a jam and the robber who is bailing him out in a card game with the devil. Have I mentioned the Queen with the heart of ice who momentarily turns Schwanda’s head? No? The electrifying polka and fugue that became a light-classic showstopper? The strapping South Tyrolean baritone Andrè Schuen adds Schwanda to a gallery of title roles that also includes Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. The casting seems just about ideal. Schuen is blessed with a first-rate instrument and the looks of a matinée idol. And he also has that elusive quality for which the best words we have are “the common touch.” —Matthew Gurewitsch