Moscow operetta presented Franz Lehar’s hit song

Hollywood widow promoted herself

The Moscow Operetta Theater presented an original interpretation of Franz Lehár’s classic operetta “The Merry Widow”. “The Queen of Operettas” is what fans of the genre call her. The production of the world hit was entrusted to Alexey Frandetti, who, together with his team – playwright Konstantin Rubinsky, conductor Konstantin Khvatynts, artists Maxim Obrezkov (scenography) and Victoria Sevryukova (costumes), choreographer Irina Kashuba and lighting designer Alexander Sivaev – justified the trust by producing a daring performance , provocative, causing delight of some and indignation of others, and most importantly, attracting the public to a bright, highly professional show.

Alexey Frandetti likes to combine different genres with his favorite – the Broadway-type musical. He succeeded even in opera. Well, and in the operetta – God himself ordered it. Having started The Merry Widow, the director got down to business in a serious way: he attracted playwright Konstantin Rubinsky, who not only writes beautiful poetic librettos, but is also endowed with the gift of composing plot intrigues, beautifully packaged in a clear, logical, dynamic dramaturgy. Rubinsky replaced the ancient play by Henri Melhas, which was the basis of Legar’s “The Widow” at the time of its creation in 1905, with a completely new plot, in which the conflict of the rich woman Hanna Glavari is integrated into the story of Hollywood stars, the filming of the first sound cinema and the intrigues of the film world of the late 20s. x early 30s of the last century. This gave Maxim Obrezkov the opportunity to build large-scale Hollywood film studio pavilions on stage, and Victoria Sevryukova to come up with spectacular costumes in which the stylistics of Art Nouveau and Art Deco were played out in a very theatrical, conventional and even fantastic way.

So, Lehár’s operetta film “The Merry Widow” is being filmed in Hollywood. The roles of Hanna Glavari and Count Danilo are former lovers Gabriella (Anna Zolotova) and Daniel (Ivan Vikulov). Producers compete with each other, and the mafioso who runs the studio, Don Brandole (Yuri Vedeneev), is puzzled by the artistic career of his vast, mustachioed niece.

Replacing the libretto in an operetta is a common tradition, also practiced in Soviet times. In this, operetta differs favorably from opera – it is customary to change not only spoken dialogues, but also the texts of arias. The Soviet theater interpreted the classics of Kalman and Strauss in its own way, rewriting the plots in both “Silva” and “Die Fledermaus”. However, part of the conservative public has a protective reaction: is it possible to take a swing at our Franz Lehár? “It’s possible,” answers the crowded theater hall, which willingly accepts the new plot and transformation of the characters. The finale of the operetta, when Gabriella Glover (Anna Zolotova), who plays Ganna Glavari in the film, announces the creation of her own studio, where the unknown debutant Steven Spielberg will make his first film, causes laughter and applause from the audience. The public also likes Daniel’s telephone conversation with Lehar: the drunken artist opens his soul to the composer, who managed in his operetta to tell the sad story of himself – a Balkan young circus performer who made a career in Hollywood, but lost his love. However, according to the laws of operetta, the tearful drama quickly winds down – and now Gabriella agrees to everything, and there is a kiss on the diaphragm, and the inscription The End on the screen. And even the producers abandoned by the heroes are in business: after all, it’s quite possible to make a horror star out of Don Brandole’s terrible protégé.

The music sounds in the author’s version, which Lehar made for his 70th birthday in 1940. It was then that he wrote the overture – a 9-minute orchestral composition, which in the performance of the Moscow Operetta became a plastic-choreographic video in the best traditions of Broadway and Hollywood musicals. Maestro Khvatynets and the orchestra from the first bars established a high degree of energy and emotional intensity, which did not decrease until the final bows.

Artists working at the intersection of the genres of operetta and musical masterfully cope with the tricky director’s task. You can feel the hand of acting teacher Oksana Kostetskaya. And in principle, this is not the first time for the Moscow Operetta Troupe. Moreover, in the dramaturgy of the performance there are episodes of the operatic type: duets, ensembles, choral scenes – not a stop in the action, as is most often the case in operetta, but its intensive development. Another genre brings important color – cinema: silent film footage is masterfully shot and can easily pass for genuine films of the 20s.

Anna Zolotova (Gabriella/Ganna) is a real operetta star who excels in dramatic and comic scenes. Handsome Ivan Vikulov in the role of Daniel/Danilo is equally charming in the image of a tipsy reveler and a lyrical hero in love. The second couple (an indispensable standard of classical operetta) – Olga Belokhvostova (Valencia) and Alexander Babik (Ross Kamil) – is the standard of a characteristic duet. The actors playing supporting roles and even bit parts are also expressive, each with a distinct personality. There are no extras here. All are distinguished by high-class vocals, charisma, plasticity, an impressive range of acting colors, in which there are no cliches of any kind. And if they are, then this is done quite deliberately – so People’s Artist Elena Ionova, a heroine and beauty in life, plays the tiny clown role of Judy, whose duties include demonstrating her unnaturally shocking cleavage, clicking the clapper and announcing the episode. And this film-making banality is played out to the fullest. If it’s a stamp, then it’s a stamp.