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The Merry Widow
By Michael Van Duzer
Just in time for the holidays, Los Angeles Opera has unveiled their first production of Franz Lehar's glittering bon bon, The Merry Widow. With its irresistible combination of gorgeous melody and sly fin de siecle eroticism, the Widow has been successfully translated, adapted, copied and reworked for every medium. (There was even a gloriously perverse silent film.) The current version on view at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is a mostly faithful production with the additional padding in the third act of a song and ballet interlude pilfered from other Lehar operettas.
Carol Vaness, singing the title role for the first time, seems to be having an awfully good time. Vocally, of course, this powerful Tosca has no problem mastering the musical demands of Lehar's heroine, but Vaness is never content to take it easy. Her "Vilja" is sung with the same care as "Vissi d'arte" and elicits a similar ovation. And, if Anna Glawari's character is less complex than some, you would never know it from the delight Vaness takes in playing her. As her romantic foil she has the good fortune to be paired with a debonair and sexy Rodney Gilfry. Once again, the vocal demands of Count Danilo never come near taxing Gilfry's reserves, but his musicality is a welcome asset and the sparks he creates with Vaness help keep the souffle aloft.
The roles of the secondary lovers are attractively filled by Virginia Tola and Charles Castronovo. Ms. Tola possesses an expressive voice and an alluring stage presence slightly hampered by muddy English diction. Castronovo is appropriately ardent and affecting, especially in his second act pavilion aria. (Both will be appearing in A Night of Zarzuela and Operetta later this season.) Dean Peterson, Louis Lebherz, Greg Fedderly and Malcolm Mackenzie add to the fun with their broadly drawn characterizations. Their kick line in "Girls, Girls, Girls" nearly brings the house down. An import from the world of musical comedy, Jason Graae was wisely brought in to play the part of Njegus. His antic spirit and consummate timing accomplished the nearly impossible task of breathing life into some of the hoarier jokes even as he threatens to steal the show.
Director Lofti Mansouri has been tinkering with various versions of the operetta for various divas over the past twenty years, and the Los Angeles production has to rank with the best of them. In the pit, Opera Pacific's John DeMain leads the orchestra in an elegant reading of the score that manages to mine the occasional bittersweet moment amidst the general revelry.
The Merry Widow; Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, December 2-22, 2001
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