I have been shuddering under the memory of the appalling, amateurish Blume von Hawaii at the dreaded Halle Theater for a couple of years now. So I haven’t been to many Operette performances in Germany since. But the grand Toi c’est moi in Altenburg cheered me largely. And tonight’s premiere of Pál Ábrahám’s Ball im Savoy at the Komische Oper cheered me all over again.
Ball im Savoy is
the third of Ábrahám’s trio of successful (in Germany) Operettes of the early
1930s. It’s also the least colourful and the most conventional as regards
libretto, and the least original musically. Which is probably why tonight’s
version fiddled with the book and introduced better-known music from his better
shows. But, minor Ábrahám is better than major almost anyone else of the period
… so, hey, thanks!
I didn’t know what to expect tonight. You see so many distorted,
old-fashioned regietheater productions of all kinds of shows in German theatres. Or did. But
I knew, from the moment the orchestra (md: Adam Benzwi) started, that I was
going to enjoy myself. The overture was accompanied by a front-cloth screening
of the most adorable, imaginative silhouettes … I’ve never seen anything so clever. If it was original, it was staggering. What a good start!
The show proper began less well. Music awry, leading man
voiceless … but it soon came right, once the chorus came on. My goodness, that
chorus! They sang and danced at full blast and full rate all evening! It was actually 40 minutes into Act one
before we got a slow, soft, solo-stage number without a huge dance-break … and,
as good as the young dancers were, what a relief it was. It really had been
rather frenetic and relentless.
And it would be again, as the stage filled with whirling
dancers, joyous comical interaction (director: Barrie Kosky), marvellously
silly costumes, first-class supporting players, an hilarious elevator ('Who's coming?') … oh yes! crazy, colourful,
inconsequential, and fairly campy Operette! Yes!
By and large, design, direction and choreography were all gold
star winners. Except when they mixed up vulgarity with fun. The poor lady who
had to do a simulated orgasm (for no reason) on stage diminished her
performance, and whoever made her do it, did ditto to the show. The same goes
for the childish cock and twat business from the otherwise excellent
choreographer (Otto Pichler). Grow up, little boys. When the rest of your work
is so supremely good, why do that stuff? Yawn.
Which brings us to the principal players.
Here, honestly, I was a little disappointed.
This show has two leading ladies – which is supreme, depends
on which version you do. We had more Gitta Alpár and less Marika Rökk, and
almost no – alas - Rózsi Bársony. Originally, the pairing was singing prima
donna and dancing soubrette. Not any more. Anyway, both players, tonight, were good, but imperfect.
Dagmar Manzel is a deliciously funny comedy actress – her
Greta Garbo (or was it Zarah Leander) imitation was a hoot – and when she sings
in the lower register she produces some splendid sounds. Alas, the soprano top
is worn and unreliable. But she sang her two quiet solos – the blessed relief
ones – delightfully, and didn’t go too far over the top in her Hello, Dolly bits of acting. So, all in
all, a firm ‘yes’. How many actresses can do all that?
Katharine Mehrling, in the Bársony role, did go over the top.
This young lady seems equipped to be a first-class Operette player. When she
got a rare chance to sing properly, she was stunning. She has style too. Great
style. But apparently doesn’t do the Bársony dancing. Instead, we had grotesque
low comedy. Fair enough. We had enough dance elsewhere. The audience adored
her. I liked her. But … she can do much better than this. When toned down a tad.
The third lady of the piece is Tangolita, the sultry Rita
Hayworth seductress. This role was inspiredly cast with plunging contralto
Agnes Zwierko, who played the temptress as the Italian lady from Nine, in a wholly and utterly successful
way. Great idea, great performance, gorgeous singing, a treat!
So, the ladies, all scored a 'fine' or even better. I cannot say the same
for the leading men. So I will pass by in silence. Singing in time and tune is
a necessity for even the most striving of very-light-barihunks. And if you are
going to play a charming, light-comedy, dance role, it helps if you have an
ounce of charm, a touch of real as opposed to pasted-on comedy and some dance
ability.
But there were compensations elsewhere! Grand ones. One of
the big hits of the night was a rearrangement of the show’s best-known song
‘Toujours l’amour’, sung so wonderfully sweetly by Peter Renz and Christiane
Oertel as to have me jumping from my seat. The other, was a cleverly arranged
and splendidly sung rendition of Ábrahám’s Goodnight song (one of the borrowed
bits from Viktoria und ihr Hussar), sung as a curtain piece by the whole
company.
There were so many great moments tonight. In a 3 ¼ hour show
(too long! cut some dialogue, some dance-breaks and the cursed second verses)
you can’t like everything. And if I’m sounding grumpy here, it’s just that ...
well, I wanted it to be perfect … and, heck, what in this world is perfect?
It was a grand evening. And it reaffirmed my
growing belief that Germany can still produce first class Operette in a joyous
and adult style …
Bravo! Komische Oper! You are leading us (back) to the
future.
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