For a theatre outside Austria, the Opernhaus Zürich has been showing an exceptional commitment with Viennese operetta. Only this season, the audience in Zurich has been served Kálmán’s Die Csardasfürstin, Lehár’s Die lustige Witwe and now, from the same composer, Das Land des Lächelns. When one think of operetta, the prospect of an ensemble cast and a boring production always comes to mind, but not here. Not only distinguished guest soloists but also relevant stage directors seem to be the idea. So, for Lehár’s adventure in make-believe China the house’s Intendant Andreas Homoki repeats his 2017 staging with the same singers in the main roles. Although his productions tend to be variations on the same theme, this time one would have to read the program to confirm that this one is indeed signed by him. As a matter of fact, in its welcome cleanliness and directness, it almost look as a low-cost production one could see in Austria. You understand that the scenes are either in Vienna or in China by the costumes, since the set does not change much. Dialogues are trimmed to the essential (also a laudable decision) and choreographies are simple and efficient. Although there’s a lot of exotic perfume on top of it, the plot of Das Land des Lächelns is very simples and almost nothing happen: independent girl meets foreign boy and agrees to follow him to his country, only to discover that she does not fit there and it is time to come home. As such, 80% of what we see is relationship talk with schmaltzy violins, harps and high notes. This is why the idea of focusing on the acting proved to be the right choice. All singers are well in their roles, exude a romantic atmosphere and seem to be having fun.
The success of Das Land des Lächelns depends on the tenor. His big aria, Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, is probably the most popular item in the whole operetta repertoire, and the whole part is more of a big sing than one might assume. The tessitura is actually quite central with some challenging high g’s and a’s here and there. In other words, a light tenor would have to work hard to be heard over the orchestra most of the time. Piotr Beczala has been singing lirico spinto roles for a while, some of them actually quite heavy for his voice, such as Manrico or Calaf (which he ended up cancelling after the prima last season here in Zurich). In a role like Sou-chong one can see that his juicy tenor, rich and full, finds no difficulties. He sang with beautiful legato, beauty of tone, sense of style, ideal diction, all high notes ardent and vibrant and he can definitely float mezza voce on a high a, what is no small feat. Moreover, he seems to be having the time of his life in this matinée idol routine. The audience couldn’t have enough of him this evening. Bravo. The part of Lisa is not different in terms of writing (they often sing the same lines), and therefore requires a voice a little bit richer in the middle and more radiant in the top than Julian Kleiter’s, and yet she sang with animation, offering easy and creamy high notes. She also acted well and exuded some glamour as required in this repertoire. Rebeca Olvera was a charming, bright-voiced Mi and Christopher Willoughby, a last-minute replacement for an indisposed Spencer Lang (who acted the part and spoke the dialogues) displayed a warm-toned tenor and a rather straight approach to a part that tends to overly broad in comedy.
Conductor Paul Daniel too fell ill and was replaced by Ann-Katrin Stöcker, who presided over a performance that left nothing to be desired in terms of orchestral playing. Lehár’s description of fantasy China involves a colorful orchestration, and Ms. Stöcker did not make little of his writing. The introduction sounded at its richest and most Straussian, the lyric arias were given all the charm and the kitsch that they require, rich, vibrant string section for sure, and the more animated numbers had the necessary freedom and an apt touch of rough edge. This also involved some mismatch with the chorus, but I guess this is unavoidable in this repertoire.
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