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by Imre Kálmán, directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin & Virginia Reh

Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto

February 16-18, 2007

"A Virtuoso Performance"

In past years the Toronto Operetta Theatre has used its February slot to bring Toronto audiences such rarities as “El Barberillo de Lavapiès” by Francisco Barbieri and “The Widow” by Calixa Lavallé.  This February the TOT is giving the Canadian premiere of “Gypsy Violins” (“Der Ziegeunerprimas”), an early work by Imre (or Emmerich) Kálmán, composer of such operetta classics as “Countess Maritza” and “The Csardas Princess”.  Sensitive direction and solid performances from the cast prove that this highly engaging and moving work does not deserve its relative obscurity.

“Gypsy Violins” was the Hungarian Kálmán’s first operetta written expressly for Vienna.  The libretto portrays conflicts in the life of an ageing gypsy violin virtuoso based on the actual violinist Pali Rácz (1830-86).  Unlike most Golden Age operettas and even those of his contemporaries, Kálmán’s operettas tend to focus more on the psychology of realistic characters rather than farcical plots filled with multiple disguises.  “Gypsy Violins” is no exception.  It focusses on the effects of the passage of time both on the individual and society.  Rácz, who is ill and has not played in public for two years, is proud of the acclaim he won during his career.  His pride, however, prevents him from appreciating the talents of his eldest son Laczi, who has turned away from the old gypsy method of emotional improvisation and approaches music the “new” way as the interpretation of written scores. 

A personal conflict parallels this conflict of style.  Rácz, already four times a widower with sixteen children, still thinks of himself as young and seeks to marry Juliska, the young daughter of his best friend.  Laczi also loves Juliska but though she is attracted to him she agrees to marry Rácz out of duty and respect.  Matters come to a head when Rácz agrees to give a concert in Paris despite the objections of his children.  This stumbling block here is not the usual disparity of age, rank or wealth one finds in Lehár, but rather the refusal of an old man to acknowledge the changes that time has brought about on him and on the world around him.

Terry Hodges gives a virtuoso performance as Rácz.  He makes Rácz a fascinating, fully rounded character, not at all the usual operetta “old man”, rather one with a complex mixture of pride, temper, gentleness and good humour.  Hodges’s rich mature baritone is ideal for Rácz’s key meditation “Time, Oh Time You Tyrant King” ("Weit ist es mit mir gekommen").  The detail of his acting is a joy, especially in the important scene when Rácz secretly watches his aggrieved son play the violin in public and waves of surprise, envy, humility and delight play across his expression. 

James McLennan, recently the TOT’s excellent Candide, has another success as Laczi.  He may find some of the part’s highest notes challenging, but his rounded tone and passionate delivery create a vivid portrait of young man who tries to realize his worth despite his father’s censure.  As Juliska, Elizabeth DeGrazia, sporting a beautiful, clear-toned soprano, is a pleasure throughout.  Her soaring duet with McLellan, “Softly Through the Summer Night” ("Bist plötzlich durchgegangen") is one of the musical highpoints of the evening.  As Rácz’s eldest daughter Sari, Katerina Tchoubar displays a fairly heavy accent but has much improved since her last TOT appearance in “Wiener Blut” in 2005.  Her voice is stronger and fuller and her enunciation is much clearer than both in speaking and singing.  She has an undeniable vivacity that makes a very positive impression especially in the work’s best-known number, the lively “Hazazaa”. 

Tenor Rory McGlynn is well cast as the debonair lady’s man Count Irini, who invites Rácz to Paris, as is baritone Joseph Angelo as the devil-may-care King Estragon.  Co-directors Guillermo Silva-Marin and Virginia Reh give the casting a nice fillip by choosing the young (and much younger-looking) Ken James Stewart to play Count Irini’s guardian Monsieur Cadeau.  The role is normally played by an aged gentleman perpetually put out by his change’s personal and financial transgressions.  Having Cadeau played by someone younger and more conservative than his master only enhances the comedy.  Stewart, a recent graduate of the Randolph Academy, is already so adept and comic nuance and timing he is certainly one to watch in the coming years.

Cadeau’s age is not the only change that the directors have made in the show.  Like most Viennese operettas the libretto has the usual (but to us peculiar) short third act that introduces a new, often unnecessary comic character, in this case Count Irini’s grandmother, before tying up the various strands of the plot.  Silva-Marin and Reh have made the work stronger by eliminating the Countess along with delays of the Third Act.  They wisely make the conclusion of the action derive directly from Rácz’s encounter with Laczi in Paris.  This foreshortening increases the work’s dramatic impact and eliminates the original’s depiction of Rácz’s downward spiral that is more depressing than enlightening.

Ideally, Kálmán is best heard with full orchestra since his works are so alive with orchestra colour.  Nevertheless, under conductor José Hernández the 11-piece ensemble sounded like a top-notch salon orchestra and gave the show a sense of intimacy.  Special mention should be made of concertmaster Lance Elbeck whose fiery violin playing stood in for the simulated on stage playing of Rácz and Laczi.

When I first saw this work at the Ohio Light Opera in 2001, I thought I’d never have the chance to see it again since this piece is not revived all the often even in Europe.  What a treat then to see it again in an even better sung and acted production right here in Toronto!  Since the TOT has found an ideal Pali Rácz in Terry Hodges, let’s hope it considers reviving this production with him sometime in the future.  The realism of this piece serves a useful role in the TOT’s project of broadening our awareness of what operetta is.             

©Christopher Hoile

Note: This review is a Stage Door exclusive.

Photo: Terry Hodges.