Opera Scotland

Lustige Witwe 2005Welsh National Opera

Read more about the opera Merry Widow

Debate no doubt continues among opera lovers as to whether The Merry Widow or Die Fledermaus represents the best example of Viennese operetta.  Scottish Opera, having had excellent productions by Anthony Besch and David Pountney, respectively, back in the seventies,  had struggled more recently with mediocre stagings of both.

Welsh National Opera's visit in 2005 was especially welcome because of its new production, in French, of Verdi's Don Carlos, still little known in Scotland (only brought to the Edinburgh Festival by the Royal Opera a few years before.  This staging, in five acts, did not replace memories of the company's previous attempy some years before of the four act version in English.  It all seemed a bit ponderous, and that problem also seemed to afflict the operetta that played on alternate nights.

In prospect this Lehár production seemed very promising, but somehow it didn’t quite work. The production team have an excellent record in a wide range of operas in Britain.  Welsh National had previously featured their stagings of Gluck  (Iphigénie en Tauride) and Bizet (Carmen). That Bizet production had also worked for Scottish Opera.   Most promisingly, the success of their ribald  Scottish staging of Offenbach (La Belle Hélène), in a sharp new translation by John Wells,  showed they also had an expert light touch in classic operetta.

All the omens were therefore good for another example of the genre.  But this Widow all seemed a bit flat, especially when compared to the delightful Carl Rosa staging seen in Glasgow a few months earlier, and which also used the excellent Jeremy Sams translation.  The American tenor Tracey Welborn (a superb Paris for Scottish Opera) and Australian baritone Jeffrey Black were both in poor vocal form on the night reviewed.  There timing of the dialogue was OK.

Lesley Garrett was the established star in the title role.  Her previous visits to Scotland had just been in the occasional concert, and she had never been known in Scotland for her operatic work, which was mainly with ENO in London.  Again she was slightly ill at ease vocally, though her acting was also fine.

Of the leading romantic quartet, only the lovely Ailish Tynan completely fulfilled expectations.  She made a delightfully attractive Valencienne, full of energy and catching the style perfectly.  Much credit also belonged to the familiar Scottish double act of Donald Maxwell and Linda Ormiston.  Geoffrey Dolton, unaccountably, had not worked in Scotland for several years, and his beautifully timed Njegus also helped the performance along.

The chorus and orchestra also did well.  But somehow the whole show sruggled to make its proper effect.  Of course it could be simply that the Festival Theatre lacked the appropriate level of intimacy.