The Merry Widow review β De Niese and Olvera are compelling, but camp fun stifles subtlety
Glyndebourne, Sussex
Double entendres, extra dialogue and sight gags ensure that Cal McCrystalβs new staging entertains, but itβs at the expense of emotional power. In the pit, John Wilson is superlative, likewise GermΓ‘n Olveraβs charismatic Danilo
The Glyndebourne season continues with a new production of The Merry Widow, wonderfully conducted by John Wilson, less successfully directed by Cal McCrystal, and with Danielle de Niese as Hanna Glawari and the superb Mexican baritone GermΓ‘n Olvera as Danilo. Itβs an oddly unwieldy evening, affecting, funny and irritating in equal measure, by no means serving Franz LehΓ‘rβs masterpiece as well as it should, but paradoxically also reminding us on occasion why it really is one of the great works of the 20th century.
McCrystal, often an excellent director, misjudges tone and pace here too frequently. A new English version by Stephen Plaice and Marcia Bellamy pads the work out with reams of extra dialogue that add some 40 minutes to the originally projected running time. There are double entendres a plenty, where something more discreet might actually have been sexier, and interruptions and interventions abound, with Tom Eddenβs Njegus cracking jokes with the audience before the show starts, and inviting us to play βRestaurant versus Picnicβ after the dinner interval, though he is so delightfully camp and entertaining that he gets away with much of it.
Continue reading...Β© Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian
Β© Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian