Welsh National Opera |
| Welsh National Opera- The Merry Widow , Wales Millenium Centre , October 8, 2005 |
| The Welsh National Opera orchestra under the baton of Michal Klauza and its fine chorus expertly mastered by Donald Nally filled the acoustically charged Donald Gordon theatre with the fine musical fizz that this delightfully elegant operetta demands; to them along with the genius of Franz Lehár the plaudits of the night belong. There was a good deal of amusement and entertainment and Jeffrey Black as Count Danilowitsch, the handsome hero of the piece, was in remarkable fine voice and easily filled the large stage with his fine presence and warm-hearted command. Donald Maxwell both physically and aesthetically filled the role of the Baron Zeta with a touch of delight but with a slightly heavier hand than was absolutely necessary. In fact it was a very much, a ‘just missed it’ production echoing WNO’s previous Caurier and Leiser’s Carmen. To my mind these guys just can’t seem to bring it off. The Merry Widow is an undemanding romance, it exists simply to sweep us off our feet with joy and delight and extravagance. This was all too little; little voices, often drowned by the orchestra and a little, however perfectly formed Leslie Garett in the leading role. There were moments when her voice did soar through the large auditorium but they were few and far between. She had a great twinkle in her eye, she looked splendid and moved deliciously but seemed to be swamped by the size of the hall. Set designer, Christian Fenoullait appeared not to have been given sufficient budget to do a proper job on the show. The Principality of Pontevedro may have hit hard times but there surely would have been a bit of grandeur in the décor of its French Embassy when it was first set up but this was not decaying grandeur but simply decay. The sets for act two and three were equally confining. I appreciate the company has a problem, having to tour to theatres with stages of varying sizes but that must not be allowed to prevent it from presenting spectacular opera productions in its spectacular home theatre. This is a challenge for its designers but not one that is impossible to overcome. No such problem with the costumes however, frothy frilly and elegant, designer Agostino Cavalca did put some of the bubbles back into the champagne. Jeremy Sams translation of the script again gave the cast another obstacle to overcome.Despite this the production did eventually engage with the audience. We enjoyed the flirtatiousness and the intrigue as the story progressed to its happy and near spectacular, merry ending. The curtain goes up on Baron Zeta’s birthday party one of his guests is a fellow Potevedrian, a widow who has been left a fortune. Afraid that she will marry a Parisian and her money leave the country, Zeta sets his ambassador, the count Danilowitsch to woo the widow Hannah. They had been engaged some while ago but the count’s family opposed the marriage, for at that time the now rich widow was just a poor country girl. The Paris opposition comes from Cammille de Rosillon, given sweet but small tenor voice by Tracey Welborn, another artist who failed to make the most of his surroundings and seemed to be without the strength to project himself into our simpatico arms. He was having an affair with the baron’s pretty young wife Valencienne. Here a pert performance, prettily sung by Ailish Tynan gave us a taste of what might have been. She somehow thinks that by her lover marrying the Merry Widow it would bring some kind of propriety to their affair! They all go off to the widow’s home for a party with fireworks on the balcony and a bit of marital deception in the summerhouse. The baron catches his wife at it and declares himself divorced from her and immediately proposes to the widow. But Hannah announces that she is engaged to the Frenchman Camille. By now the count’s love juices are flowing wildly and he goes off to Maxim’s in a jealous huff. Everyone finishes up there in the end and the two stars fall in love and a burst of Can-Can girls ensures that it all ends on a high note. Lets hope the ‘Scottish Widows’ that sponsored the production felt that they had got good value for their money. |
Reviewed by: Michael kelligan |
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