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OPERA REVIEW
Endearing Operetta, With Plodding Script
November 27, 2001
Photos by Larry Merkle |
By Olivia Stapp
This merry widow has every good reason to be merry, except for the script
she and her friends have been given! She's still beautiful, immensely rich, of
course. Every man at the Paris Embassy of Pontevedrian is at her feet. She
still gets to sing the most gorgeous melodies ever composed by Franz Lehar.
But Wendy Wasserstein's overly-lengthy dialogue, written especially for this
production, slowed down the pace and, like a delicate souffle left waiting too
long to be enjoyed, the performance sagged. The actors strained ever harder
to make the dialogue work, delivering their lines in an assortment of pseudo
Austro-Hungarian and Balkan accents. But even their most heroic efforts, could not transform this plodding, humorless, and interminable script into fast-paced
comedy.
The widow, Anna Glawari, now a middle-aged Cinderella, is searching for
"Mr. Right," number two. Her childhood sweetheart Danilo arrives. He has
turned into a bit of a roué who spends most of his time living the good life,
and flirting with the can-can girls at Chez Maxim's. Nothing très osé, mind,
you, for in this sugar-coated world of romance and privilege there's not the
slightest hint of scurrility. Instead, there is limitless champagne, waltzing, and
the favorite national dish of Pontevedrian, cabbage strudel!
It's a romp, a farce, and Lehar takes it all and wraps it in deliciously elegant
music, like a strudel Is it unalloyed schmaltz ? Certainly! But it is
charming, lovable, Viennese schmaltz. This endearing operetta has been in
the repertory since 1905 and some even proclaim it THE masterpiece of its
genre. The Metropolitan has recently mounted a new production of it for
Frederica von Stade, who will perform the title role in January here in San
Francisco.
The curtain opened onto a black and white art nouveau set designed by Michael Yeargan. Thierry Bosquet costumed all but the widow in black-on- white. In keeping with fin de siècle Austro-Hungarian society, the women were suitably feathered, frilled, and flounced. The hats of some of the ladies appeared to be at least two feet wide. The opulence continued into the second act, which was, by contrast, all blue. Crimson red was the color for the third act, at Café Maxim's. Director Lotfi Mansouri staged the operetta with over- the-top lavishness, and in a style very reminiscent of what might be a 1950's Hollywood musical with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. (It will be filmed to air next season for the "Great Performances" series on PBS.) Yvonne Kenny's portrayal of Anna Glawari, the "merry widow", was much too prim, lacking the necessary insouciance and glamour for the title role. Although her middle and low registers were warm sounding, the high register eluded her. The dashing Bo Skovhus was very engaging as Danilo, the romantic lead. He projected a tongue-in-cheek nonchalance with such lines as "I performed my military duties --- undercover." His singing was secure and convincing. Valencienne, played by Angelika Kirchschlager, was superb in every way. She sings with a unique musical elegance and has a luminous vocal quality that is so alive that it makes the auditorium tingle. A perfectly balanced vocal technique was displayed by Gregory Turay in the role of Camille de Rossilon. Two vivacious ladies were Marnie Brekenridge as Olga and Julia Rhodes as the very naughty can-can girl, Clo-Clo.
Larry Pech's choreography was a tour de force, which included waltzes, can- can, ballet, and Broadway set numbers. The impression at times was that the orchestral tempi were too fast for the dancers. Perhaps there had not been enough rehearsal time, as this ambitious work comes at the end of the Opera's full season. The dancing sometimes seemed out of synch, but this will undoubtedly rectify itself over the course of the subsequent performances. Kudos for Erich Kunzel who conducted everyone, both the musicians in the pit and those on stage, with care and elegance. His first-rate directing of Lehar's romantic music sustained the evening.At the beginning of each of the three acts, there was an audible expression of delight, and then applause for the luxuriant sets and costumes. The cast received a warm ovation at the end of the evening. (Olivia Stapp is an opera director, formerly artistic director of Festival Opera (1995-2001), has had a major international career as a soprano, and will direct Opera San Jose's Manon in January.) ©2001 Olivia Stapp, all rights reserved |
