This wonderful bit of nonsense was first performed in Austria just before Christmas 1905. It is a Viennese operetta with glorious music, lots of comic business, and not a lot of plot. So director John Savournin and his “co-librettist” David Eaton have every excuse for shifting the action from the original location (two mansions in Paris) to New York and Sicily … and it proves to be an offer the audience doesn’t want to refuse. We get lots of mafia jokes, plenty of opulent backdrops, and splendid singing from all the principals and a big chorus.
Hanna Glawari is the rich widow of a Sicilian mobster and has inherited his business – lemon tree plantations. Don Zeta in New York needs to bolster his empire and wants his consigliere, Danilo, to marry her and bring her millions into the “family”. Meanwhile the don’s wife Valentina has been involved in an affair with the jazz singer Rosillon. Hanna turns up in New York and it turns out that she and Danilo were lovers some years before – and parted in anger. It becomes clear however that they still love each other, but neither will admit it. Other suitors pursue Hanna. They all visit Sicily to attend a party at her mansion there but they end up back at Maxim’s Nightclub in New York where the inevitable happy ending takes place.
It’s a ‘Beatrice and Benedick’ scenario and Savournin is lucky enough to have in the key roles two singing actors who are well able to carry the comedy and sing the big numbers with panache. Paula Sides as Hanna brings that sparkling combination of confident and vulnerable that makes the character so attractive – although I wasn’t quite convinced by Hanna’s back story of Tennessee roots, despite Sides being originally from the USA. Alex Otterburn is a less charismatic Danilo than some I have seen but that makes the thwarted love story all the more touching and he has a top quality ‘leading man’ baritone voice. As Don Zeta, Henry Waddington is both sinister and full of bonhomie, a formidable combination – when he clicks his fingers, his goodfellas jump. And his errant wife sung by Rhian Lois makes her dalliance with Rosillon seem both trivial and real cause for fear of being sent to sleep with the fishes. There are plenty of other fine comic turns in the show and the orchestra of Scottish Opera conducted by Stuart Stratford was in good form.
As one would expect, Savournin and Eaton, who run the brilliant Charles Court Opera together and who have many smash hits to their credit, bring a powerful comic sense to the re-write of the story and the show is full of good verbal and visual jokes – I loved the dancing corpse! If there is a problem, it is how best to use the strange stage set-up at Holland Park. Between the main stage and a front runway area sits the orchestra and most of the action of this show was set on the main stage at the back, with the singers along way from the audience. There is a huge amount of business going on and it sometimes seemed both cramped and a bit remote at the back.
Despite the dated-ness of the concept – a rich widow whose wealth needs to be ‘captured’ by some shadowy male-dominated empire – there is plenty of heart and charm in the way it has been updated here. With fine performances and plenty of humour, its a fitting show for a warm summer evening in Holland Park.
Composer: Franz Lehar
Libretto: Viktor Leon and Leo Stein (adapted by David Eaton)
Director: John Savournin
Conductor: Stuart Stratford
Performers incl: Paula Sides, Alex Otterburn, Henry Waddington, Rhian Lois.
Running time: 2 hours 55 minutes
Dates: until 28 June
Photographs: