Thursday 21 January 2016

The Great New Year's Bat Invasion

By tradition, the annual bat invasion always happens around the time of the New Year.  No, I'm not describing a zoological phenomenon.  I'm referring to the tradition of performing the world-famous operetta Die Fledermaus ("The Bat") by Johann Strauss Jr.  The tradition makes more sense when you realize that the original story from which the libretto derives was in fact set on New Year's Eve.

Only a couple of weeks after the target date, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony presented a semi-staged concert performance bubbling over with the essential good humour and high spirits demanded by this classic.

If the defining characteristic of operetta is that it refuses ever to take itself too seriously, then Die Fledermaus is rightly considered the quintessential operetta.  The plot is comprised of deceptions, infidelities, threats of violence, and theft, and yet the essentially playful nature of the story ensures that none of this becomes the stuff of tragedy -- and all is resolved in a happy ending, in which the blame for all the confusion is finally laid off on an excess of champagne!

Undoubtedly, the orchestra, conductor, and singers captured the frothy character of the piece more than amply.  The result was a very entertaining evening, spoken and sung entirely in English. 

The performance was "hosted" by Daniel Isengart.  His spoken introductions and narrations carried us forward through the story, replacing reams of dialogue in the original.  The cast of characters were mainly performed by younger singers, but do not mistake "younger" for "second-rate".  With one slight exception, all the singers carried their parts off with great aplomb and effective characterization.

I'd love to discuss the performance of every single soloist, but I'm going to confine myself to four that were (for me) outstanding.  First up was soprano Jennifer Taverner as Adele, the maid.  A bit staid at first, she warmed up a good deal as the evening progressed, capturing in voice and face the sassy manner of the maid who's just filling in the position while waiting for a better deal to come along.

Adam Luther, tenor, made much of the smaller role of Alfred, the Italian singer who captures Rosalinde's attention.  Even when heard from offstage, his voice soared clearly across the hall and his every word came through as well (some of the characters had more trouble with diction). 

As Rosalinde, soprano Bethany Horst sang with conviction and clarity, nailing the frequent high notes with security and accuracy.  Her acting turned much more flirtatious at the ball when she appeared as a "Hungarian countess" wearing a mask.  Her Czardas was the star turn of the evening.

The real star of the show for me was baritone Benjamin Covey as Eisenstein, the wannabe seducer who ends up as the butt of the joke.  Again, a very clear voice and good diction, and total understanding that it takes some work to make this often-sleazy operator a sympathetic character.  Covey was particularly good at getting the words out clearly in the rapid passagework.  He was notably more "sophisticated" in manner in the Act II party scene, where the chiming watch of the original was aptly replaced with a brand-new Blackberry!

All these, and the others too, joined together in first-rate teamwork to bring the operetta to brilliant life with limited staging and acting opportunities.

The chorus, too, did a great deal with their opportunities in the party scene, representing various degrees of drunkenness among the party guests with all the realism to be expected of a student chorus!

Conductor Edwin Outwater led the orchestra and singers in a sparkling performance with plenty of energy throughout.  Only in one number did I feel that he had chosen a slow tempo.  Otherwise the speeds were apt enough to move the work along without rushing. 

It's just a pity that there wasn't time to create a series of surtitle slides for use on the overhead screen.  The abbreviated dialogue was always clearly audible, but diction suffered in the singing and in one or two of the faster songs the words simply tumbled out too quickly to be heard.

But that's a minor detail.  Musically and dramatically, this was a fine evening of comical fun for the audience, and I enjoyed every minute!

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