{"id":83289,"date":"2015-12-09T00:55:56","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T23:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=83289"},"modified":"2016-11-25T13:23:49","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T12:23:49","slug":"chicago-lyric-opera-the-merry-widow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/chicago-lyric-opera-the-merry-widow\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago, Lyric Opera: “The Merry Widow”"},"content":{"rendered":"
Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2015-2016 Season<\/i><\/div>\n
\u201cTHE MERRY WIDOW\u201d<\/b><\/div>\n
Operetta in three acts originally in German, sung in English<\/div>\n
English translation by Jeremy Sams<\/div>\n
Original libretto by Victor Leon and Leo Stein, after \u00a0Henri Meilhac\u2019s comedy L’Attache d’Ambassade<\/em><\/div>\n
Music by Franz Leh\u00e1r<\/b><\/div>\n
Hanna Glawari<\/i> RENEE FLEMING<\/div>\n
Count Danilo Danilovich<\/i> THOMAS HAMPSON<\/div>\n
Baron Mirko Zeta<\/i> PATRICK CARFIZZI<\/div>\n
Camille de Rosillon<\/i> MICHAEL SPYRES<\/div>\n
Valencienne<\/i> ANGELA MANNINO<\/div>\n
Raoul de Saint-Brioche<\/i> JONATHAN JOHNSON<\/div>\n
Vicomte Cascada<\/i> PAUL LA ROSA<\/div>\n
Njegus<\/i> JEFF DUMAS<\/div>\n
Kromov<\/i> JONATHAN WEIR<\/div>\n
Olga<\/i> JENNIE SOPHIA<\/div>\n
Pritschitsch<\/i> FRED ZIMMERMAN<\/div>\n
Bogdanovich<\/i> MICHAEL WEBER<\/div>\n
Praskovia GENEVIEVE THIERS<\/div>\n
Sylviane<\/i> MCKINLEY CARTER<\/div>\n
Maitre D\u2019<\/i> JONAH D. WINSTON<\/div>\n
Lolo <\/i>ARIANE DOLAN<\/div>\n
Dodo<\/i> ALISON MIXON<\/div>\n
Jou-Jou<\/i> EMILY PYNENBURG<\/div>\n
Frou-Frou <\/i>ANNELISE BAKER<\/div>\n
Clo-Clo<\/i> JEN GORMAN<\/div>\n
Margo<\/i>t CATHERINE HAMILTON<\/div>\n
Orchestra and Chorus of Lyric Opera of Chicago<\/div>\n
Conductor Sir Andrew Davis\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Director and Choreographer Susan Stromer<\/b><\/div>\n
Sets Julian Crouch\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Costumes William Ivey Long<\/b><\/div>\n
Original Lighting Paul Constable<\/b><\/div>\n
Lighting for Lyric Chris Maravich\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Sound Design Mark Grey\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Chorus Master Michael Black<\/b><\/div>\n
Stage Band Conductor Francesco Milioto<\/b><\/div>\n
Fight Director Nick Sandys<\/b> \u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Production owned by The Metropolitan Opera<\/div>\n
Chicago, 3 December 2015\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
The Merry Widow<\/i> was Franz Leh\u00e1r\u2019s first major success for the operetta stage and is second only to Johann Strauss Jr.\u2019s Die Fledermaus<\/i> as the most popular and well-loved work of this genre.\u00a0 Musicologists and other serious types tend to sneer at operetta but no less a critic than the Wagner scholar Ernest Newman once said:\u00a0 \u201cThe best possible singing and playing is no whit too good for the best of Leh\u00e1r\u2019s music.\u201d\u00a0 Leh\u00e1r scored a hit in 1902 with his \u201cGold and Silver\u201d waltz, a composition he sold for a modest price, which would go on to make a fortune for the publishing house that purchased it.\u00a0 Leh\u00e1r learned from his mistake and from then on kept a tight rein on the sale and copyright of his music.\u00a0 Indeed, he became one of the most financially successful composers of all time. \u00a0But Leh\u00e1r\u2019s immense good fortune could not spare him the impact of cataclysmic world events unfolding throughout his lifetime.\u00a0 Despite his prestige, the composer narrowly escaped tragedy during the Nazi regime.\u00a0 Although he was Roman Catholic, Leh\u00e1r\u2019s wife Sophie was Jewish and much hostility was directed towards him personally and his work.\u00a0 Hitler, however, enjoyed Leh\u00e1r\u2019s music immensely and Goebbels intervened directly on his behalf.\u00a0 In 1938, Mrs. Leh\u00e1r was given the title of \u201cEhrenarierin\u201d or \u201chonorary Aryan by marriage.\u201d\u00a0 Nevertheless, there were repeated attempts to have her deported.\u00a0 This ever-present anxiety was such that Sophie carried a cyanide capsule on her person for the war\u2019s duration. \u00a0While not a fanatical supporter, Lehar\u2019s stance toward the Nazis is clouded by the same ambiguity and moral uncertainty as that which befell Richard Strauss, Carl Orff and other composers active during this period.\u00a0 In fact, he made a point of presenting Hitler with a leather-bound copy of the score for The Merry Widow<\/em> as a 50th birthday present in 1938.\u00a0 To his credit, Leh\u00e1r tried to use his influence to save the lives of several Jewish colleagues, including one of his former librettists.\u00a0 Unfortunately, even a composer of Leh\u00e1r\u2019s renown was powerless to prevent their destruction during the holocaust.
\nThe plot of The Merry Widow<\/i> is concerned with the fortunes of the Balkan state of Montenegro or as it is referred to in the operetta, \u201cPontevedro.\u201d\u00a0 The regional politics involved here are complicated and reflect the tensions which eventually erupted into World War I almost a decade after the work\u2019s premiere (ironically, The Merry Widow<\/i> was playing in repertoire at Lyric Opera with Alban Berg\u2019s Wozzeck<\/i>, a vastly different piece shaped by the same zeitgeist).\u00a0 The work is set in Paris, during the sophisticated era of the Belle \u00c9poque.\u00a0 Leh\u00e1r is thus able to capitalize artistically on two distinct cultures.\u00a0 The Pontevedrian element is captured through the use of polonaise, mazurka and the Balkan \u2018kolo,\u2019 a communal dance of the region.\u00a0 In contrast, the glittering world of Paris is reflected in his use of the waltz, galop and can-can. \u00a0For an essentially self-taught composer, Leh\u00e1r was a gifted orchestrator.\u00a0 The Merry Widow<\/i> is scored for a large ensemble, with a robust contingent of exotic instruments, including glockenspiel, guitar and 3 tamburizzas.\u00a0 Other composers envied Leh\u00e1r\u2019s enormous popularity and attempted to emulate his style.\u00a0 For example, Puccini originally conceived of La rondine <\/i>as a frothy operetta and intended it to score a huge success with the Viennese public.\u00a0While there is no question regarding the musical quality of The Merry Widow<\/i>, its enduring success is also due to the allure of the title character.\u00a0 It is the ultimate vanity piece for a leading lady and has attracted all manner of celebrities.\u00a0 The work has been adapted numerous times for the cinema as a vehicle for various stars, including Mae West, Jeanette MacDonald and Lana Turner.\u00a0 In the operatic world, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf made two different complete recordings of the work.\u00a0 Her rivals Hilde Gueden and Lisa della Casa recorded competing versions, as did Dorothy Kirsten.\u00a0 More recently, mezzo-sopranos have undertaken it, including Frederica von Stade and Susan Graham.\u00a0 Even jazz legends like Cleo Laine have reveled in the opportunity to wear glamorous gowns, waltz around the stage and embody the archetype of prima donna to the hilt.\u00a0 Curiously, Ren\u00e9e Fleming, <\/b>Lyric Opera\u2019s current choice, seemed embarrassed, even impatient, with the role\u2019s inherent fascination, resulting in what must be counted a low point in her performance history with the company to date.\u00a0Now in the twilight of a long and distinguished career, Fleming exuded little of the carefree exuberance or extravagant whimsy necessary to enliven the proceedings.\u00a0 How odd that a soprano who has achieved ultimate fame in her profession seemed so hell bent on exuding bland likeability and \u201cgirl next door\u201d demureness.\u00a0 She managed her greatly reduced vocal resources with care and caution, producing the occasional stretch of pretty singing but sounding underpowered and anemic throughout.\u00a0 The vocal range was still within her possibilities but high notes resolutely failed to bloom and there was little of the radiant lyricism so notable during her prime years.\u00a0 Even Fleming\u2019s appearance struck an ambivalent note:\u00a0 beautifully costumed by William Ivey Long<\/b> but sporting a series of unflattering, matronly wigs. \u00a0As Danilo, Thomas Hampson<\/b> delivered a consummately professional performance but was hard to take seriously as a dedicated hedonist.\u00a0 The unofficial successor to the legacy of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Hampson has long enjoyed a reputation as a musical intellectual.\u00a0 But like Fischer-Dieskau, he is most at home in the lofty sentiments of German lieder and seemed uncomfortable with the material at hand, often lapsing into an all-purpose frat boy frivolity rather than the rakish worldliness required.\u00a0 Like his co-star, Hampson had his moments of threadbare vocalism but was more generous with his limited supply, negotiating the high tessitura with admirable skill. \u00a0For those who admired their joint appearances in Massenet\u2019s Thais<\/i> for Lyric Opera back in 2003, Fleming and Hampson sadly displayed no chemistry together on this occasion.\u00a0 The librettist for The Merry Widow<\/i> once quipped about the famously erotic waltz number \u201cLippen schweigen\u201d or \u201cLips are silent\u201d that \u201cit\u2019s in \u00be time–causing one to lose three quarters of one\u2019s virtue.\u201d\u00a0 Here, the moment fell flat.\u00a0 This starry duo communicated all the sexual tension of the Professor and Mary Anne from Gilligan\u2019s Island<\/i>, with a grinning smugness equally worthy of a television sitcom.\u00a0The secondary couple were in somewhat better hands but also suffered from a lack of sophistication.\u00a0 Substituting at the last minute for an indisposed Heidi Stober, Angela Mannino <\/b>seemed extraordinarily poised, fitting seamlessly into the ensemble.\u00a0 Her Valencienne boasted confident singing but lacked dramatic profile, being neither charming sociopath nor earnest birdbrain.\u00a0 As Camille, Michael Spyres<\/b> delivered the finest vocalism of the afternoon but cut a distinctly unromantic figure onstage, with little compensation by way of seductive characterization.\u00a0 All the soloists had to contend with Jeremy Sams\u2019<\/b> tortured translation, crammed to excess with enough self-regarding witticism and word play to all but steal focus from the dramatic proceedings. \u00a0In a large supporting cast, Patrick Carfizzi<\/b> did what he could with the thankless part of the chronically anxious Baron Zeta, while Jeff Dumas<\/b> as Njegus scored most of the laughs heard from the audience through his strong comic timing.\u00a0 Other embassy figures were well taken by Jonathan Weir, Fred Zimmerman<\/b> and Michael Weber<\/b>.\u00a0 Jonathan Johnson<\/b> and Paul La Rosa<\/b> made dashing suitors for the hand of Hanna, while Genevieve Thiers<\/b> led a humorously delineated trio of Pontevedrian wives.\u00a0 The staging tried to make a case for individualizing the various grisettes but they remained faceless and interchangeable fixtures of the once-notorious Chez Maxim.
\nSusan Stroman\u2019s<\/b> production was disappointing in the extreme, registering like a dated relic from the era of regional dinner theater rather than a brand new production on loan from The Metropolitan Opera.\u00a0 For a celebrated Broadway director, Stroman settled for dull stage pictures with awkward arrangements of soloists and chorus alike.\u00a0 In contrast, her choreography injected much needed life and vitality onstage.\u00a0 Julian Crouch\u2019s<\/b> sets, with their one-dimensional flats and painted perspectives, bordered on amateurish. \u00a0 The Lyric Opera Orchestra played well enough for its Music Director Sir Andrew Davis<\/b> but he led a straight-jacketed account of the score, missing notes of schmaltz and schwung in his overly pedantic approach. \u00a0In summary, Lyric Opera\u2019s take on The Merry Widow<\/i> lacked a heroine of compelling allure in a production that came off as leaden when it should have been intoxicating. Photo Todd Rosenberg<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago, Lyric Opera of Chicago, 2015-2016 Season \u201cTHE MERRY WIDOW\u201d Operetta in three acts originally in German, sung […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":83293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1744,15496,9354,3829,15500,15503,15498,15497,15501,15499,15494,13402,2399,9896,15502,491,15493,15492,2882,15495],"class_list":["post-83289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria","tag-andrew-davis","tag-angela-mannino","tag-foreign-readers","tag-franz-lehar","tag-fred-zimmerman","tag-genevieve-thiers","tag-jeff-dumas","tag-jeremy-sams","tag-jonathan-johnson","tag-jonathan-weir","tag-julian-crouch","tag-lyric-opera-chicago","tag-michael-spyres","tag-patrick-carfizzi","tag-paul-la-rosa","tag-renee-fleming","tag-susan-stromer","tag-the-merry-widow","tag-thomas-hampson","tag-william-ivey-long"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83289"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83296,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83289\/revisions\/83296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}