A Glimpse At The Operetta & Classical Musicals
Dec 17 '07 (Updated Mar 09 '08)
The Bottom Line Operetta are fun and enchanting entry points into the world of opera. No blood or murder but a lot of howling laughter for the holidays!
Discovering the Operetta & Classical Musicals With the Help of Youtube.
In the light of the recent surge in popularity of the pop-opera 'cross-overs' like Il Divo, Charlotte Church, Sarah Brightman, Hayley Westenra, Josh Groban, etc., it seems that today's music audience isn't so averse to listening to classical vocal music after all. Instead of exploring this enchanting theatrical genre by way of the cross-overs, however, I hope to make my case here that the better exploration start point for non-opera fans is via the fun and light operetta instead. Below are a few charming works that should appeal nicely to newbies:
1. LEHÁR: Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvDEavu26B4 (June Anderson sings 'Vilja Song')
Hanna Glawari, the merry Pontevedrian widow has so much cash in her bank account that the Pontevedrian Ambassador to Paris would do just about anything to keep her from marrying a foreigner... Luckily or not, Hanna's first love, Prince Danilo, is still a bachelor, though his penchant for playing hard to get keeps us guessing who will end up marrying who until the very last act. This fun tale full of charming music is Lehár's most popular work for all the good reasons... and a very good Hanna is hard to come by, and June Anderson in her heyday was one of the best!
2. Johann STRAUSS (II): Die Fledermaus (The Bat)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=npLZNoRoH2M (Hildegarde Heichele sings Adele’s 'Mein Herr Marquis (Laughing Song)')
Based on Mailhac & Halévy play ‘Le Reveillon’, this delightfully nonsensical operetta is set in 1890's Vienna. The plot is thoroughly illogical and preposterous, but the music is catchier than a giant Venus fly's trap. So, naturally, this is one of the most popular show on the operatic stage The imprudent Dr. Gabriel Eisenstein had humiliated his pal, Falke, by having him walk home drunk from a costume party while dressed like a bat (an any drunk will tell you that there is nothing more earth-shattering to their ego than being mistaken for an alcoholic winged rat). Four years later, Eisenstein's ‘social misconduct’ conviction has earned him a short jail sentence so Falke uses it to exact his revenge by inviting his philandering ‘friend’ to Prince Orlofsky’s party the evening his jail sentence is to begin, purposefully neglecting to tell him that his wife, Rosalinde, will also appear under the disguise of a gypsy singer. Just as poisonous toadstool can't change their spots, Eisenstein very predictably tries to seduce his own wife by showing off his lady-killer fob watch (which she steals for use as evidence of his infidelity). After multiple cases of mistaken identity, and many more cases of champaign, the husband and wife have a show down at the jail house and the happy ending cheered by a party of drunken party goers and convicts.
Well... I wouldn't blame you if all this doesn't sound all that coherent, but the thing about fickle operatic plots is that, once you are listening along with the music, even the most preposterous plot can suddenly make perfect sense!
3. J STRAUSS (II): Eine Nacht in Venedig (A Night in Venice)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=T45ANcycJbY (Barbara Bonney sings 'Schwips-Lied')
Mistaken identity is a mainstay plot devise for the operetta.. In this case, the beautiful clevergirl Barbara out-maneuvers Caramello and avoids being courted by his boss, the Duke of Urbino, by sending a common fisher-girl Annina to him in her place. Realizing his mistake and having fallen for Annina himself, Caramello spends the operetta amusing us with his attempts at foiling the mismatched romance.
4. OFFENBACH: La Belle Hélène (The Beautiful Helen)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYCmtFFmQMM (Act II finale. Vesselina Kasarova as Helen)
This comic opera in 3 acts based on a book by Henri Meilhac & Ludovic Halévy is one of Jacques Offenbach's most successful operetta. Premiered in Paris in the end of 1864, it is a witty satire of the French upper class during the 2nd Republic. The main plot is of how Paris of Troy manages to seduce Helen of Sparta (with the help of Chalcas, the Priest of Apollo) and arranges for her to escape/elope with him with the consent of her perpetually outwitted King Menelaus. This marvelous piece of musical comedy contains some of Offenbach's wittiest music. From the overture all the way to the finale, if you ever need a break from a depression, not even Prozac can beat La belle Hélène as a medicine!
5. GERSHWIN’s Porgy and Bess
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRvVBKLxCgU (Cynthia Haymon sings Bess’ 'Summertime')
Based on Heyward's novel & play, Porgy, this very American folk opera is set in Charleston, South Carolina. It tells the story of Porgy, a poor and crippled black man who falls in love with the prostitute Bess, and attempts to shield her from Crown, her murderous pimp and ex-lover. Their confrontation turns bloody and Porgy ends up killing Crown in defending his beloved. Alas, by the time Porgy is released by the police (whose disbelief in the cripple's ability to overpower a healthy pimp turns out to be his saving grace), Bess had been successfully wooed away by Sportin' Life the drug dealer, who takes her away to resume the life of a loose woman in the Big Apple.
This rather dramatic opus is probably closer to 'opera' than 'operetta' than the other works included here. Its blues and jazz elements are so well incorporated into the classical opera music by George Gershwin that even non-classical fans would find this work very appealing... if they don't get too attached to the racial issues raised in the story, I think.
6. ZELLER: Der Vogelhändler (The Bird Seller)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLTe82MewXM (Sebastien Reinthaller & Martina Serafin sing 'Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol')
Based on Varin & Biéville comedy Ce qui deviennent les roses, this Carl Zeller operetta is set in Bavaria (in Southern Germany). It follows a rather complicated love affair between Christel, the village postmistress and Adam, an overly handsome Tyrolean bird seller. There are many complicated side plots of mistaken identities and romantic flings. Come to think of it, that isn't so different from real life, is it?
7. GILBERT & SULLIVAN: The Pirates of Penzance
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=let3J9KGu8U (Simon Gallaher sings 'O Is There Not One Maiden Breast')
Set on the warm and sunny coast of Cornwall, England, this delightful Gilbert & Sullivan operetta tells of the pirates of Penzance (an adorably incompetent band of fake pirates made exclusively of inept but soft-hearted orphans, with a rule not to bother other orphans). One of their numbers, Frederic, has (supposedly) finally come of age and graduates from a pirate-in-training to the equal of his peers.... Or rather, a bit more than their equal, since just one of him really rock the whole lot of them with his constant changing of side through out the operetta. All because he had fallen in love with young Mabel, a general's daughter.
8. MILLÖCKER: Der Bettelstudent (The Student Beggar)
Sample: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jviC9MoyIhw (Pablo Cameselle sings 'Ich hab kein Geld')
Set in 1704 Krakow, Poland in 1704. General Ollendorf, the military governor, wants to marry Laura, the daughter of Countess Palmatica. Upon learning that the Countess has pledged to only let her daughter marry a Pole and a nobleman, Ollendorf forces Symon Symonovicz, a poor Polish student serving a prison term for poaching, to impersonate a wealthy nobleman and woo and marry the Countess Laura. Symon's conscience catches up with him once he has spent all the money Ollendorf gave him, and tries unsuccessfully to confess to her before the marriage ceremony. A few more plot twists entail and, with the help of a friend, Symon and his friend manage to outwit Ollendorf and re-install King Stanislaus, earning him all the rank and money needed to be worthy of his Laura after all.
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Operettas are lighter than their bona fide operatic counterparts (and usually use spoken dialog in between the singing numbers) both dramatically and musically. They are still mostly sung unamplified, however (performances from the seaside open stage at Mörbisch Sea Festival, the yearly mecca for lovers of operettas, are miked by necessity). These works contain some of the most hook-infested, catchiest, and jolliest tunes you have ever heard. And the singers are such amazing comedic actors/actresses that they can get the jokes across to you from 50 feet away without even cracking a note.
If you didn't think you'd enjoy an opera before, do you still think so after having seen the clips above? Maybe you're really an opera fan waiting for the right medium to break out of the long hibernation for!
More about the opera:
A Few Words To Opera Newbies,
Dance Thru Opera History with Munkus, Commandments for the Opera Fans, 10 Beginners-Friendly Opera, Some Friendly Diva Opera Arias (the ladies), Some Friendly Divo Opera Arias (the gents), Some Friendly Operatic Duets, Some Friendly Operatic Ensembles, Tips In Opera Reviewing, 15 Favorite Opera Youtube Clips (2007), Newbies' Guide to German & French Opera
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