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by Imre Kálmán, directed by Guillermo Silva-Marin

Toronto Operetta Theatre, Jane Mallett Theatre, Toronto

December 30, 2025-January 4, 2026

Edwin: “I can hear the angels singing, ‘This is love’”

Toronto Operetta Theatre’s production of The Czardas Princess is a real winner. This operetta along with Countess Maritza are the two greatest operettas by Hungarian composer Imre Kálmán (1882-1953). The libretto by Leo Stein and Béla Jenbach is genuinely funny and the music is gorgeous with one great tune following another. TOT has presented this work under three different titles – The Csárdás Princess online in 2021, The Gypsy Princess in 2011 and The Czardas Princess in 1997. Whatever the title, these are all productions of Kálmán’s Die Csárdásfürstin from 1915. TOT has assembled an especially fine cast for the present production who make a strong case for Die Csárdásfürstin as one of the best operettas ever written.

I related the plot of the operetta in 2011 this way: “The story uses certain clichés of Viennese operetta plotting--a comic couple balancing a serious couple and difference in class as a bar to marriage--but librettists Leo Stein and Béla Jenbach have found a way to emphasize the human side of the conflicts so that characters and the community on stage seem much more real than is sometimes the case in operetta. For one thing, the title character Sylvia Varescu is a cabaret singer herself. Prince Edwin is in love with her, but she doubts whether he has the courage to stand up to his parents’ disapproval of his marrying not just a commoner but, even worse, a stage artist. Meanwhile, her manager Count Bonifazius or ‘Boni’ is trying to get Sylvia started on a tour of America. Edwin doesn’t want her to leave so what can he do to stop her but propose? Boni, who has never taken Edwin’s passion seriously, doesn’t want to cancel the tour and so produces an announcement Edwin’s parents have prematurely had printed announcing his engagement to their choice for his bride, Countess Stasi. The mood for everyone except Boni gets very dark before events work themselves out”.

Under the direction of Guillermo Silva-Marin all four principals present their characters as complex individuals. Three of the four appeared in TOT’s previous Kálmán operetta Countess Maritza (1924) in 2024 and have a fine sense of Kálmán’s unique balance of comedy and passion. All four are also light on their feet, an essential quality for a show that requires so much dancing.

Maeve Palmer, making her TOT debut, is a lively, passionate Sylvia. Palmer’s rich, full soprano helps make Sylvia Varescu the intelligent, strong-willed character she is meant to be. Palmer sings Sylvia’s opening number “Heia, heia, / In the lonely mountains is my home” not as a just a vocal showpiece but as a true expression of Sylvia’s emotion. Her detailed acting makes each of Sylvia’s decisions fully believable.

Scott Rumble is becoming a TOT regular. He is following up his lead as Count Tassilo in Kálmán’s Countess Maritza last year with his lead as Edwin this year. Rumble has the enormous voice of a Heldentenor and it is no surprise that he sang the role of Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre for Edmondton Opera last year. Rumble manages to balance Edwin’s natural impulsiveness with the constancy of his love for Sylvia so that we never lose sympathy for Edwin. Given their operatic voices, Palmer and Rumble’s duets are particularly impressive from the light-heartedness of “Loveliness is all around us” to the serious despondency of “Where are they now”.

Contrasting with the serious couple of Sylvia and Edwin are the comic couple of Stasi and Boni. The twist here is that Edwin is supposed to be engaged with Countess Stasi and Count Boni has the ruse of presenting Sylvia as his wife. How the couples work out the truth of what is really true is one of the funniest sequences in all operetta. Patricia Wrigglesworth, last seen as Lisa in Countess Maritza, displays a bright, clear soprano as Stasi. She imbues Stasi with a wry sense of humour which is just right for the part.

Sebastien Belcourt, last seen as Prince Populescu in Countess Maritza, is hilarious as Count Boni. Belcourt is a natural comedian and perfectly at home on stage. He is especially good at portraying comic confusion, making each of the scenes of Boni’s social awkwardness funnier than the one before. In Act 2, it is wonderful how he depicts Boni’s quandary of pretending he is married to Sylvia while gradually falling in love with Stasi. In Act 3, Belcourt has a great scene staging a fake telephone call that finally brings Edwin and Sylvia back together. Belcourt also has a fine, smooth baritone that blends beautifully with Wrigglesworth’s soprano in their sprightly signature song “That fellow Cupid”.

Baritone Joseph Ernst is strong and solid as Boni’s friend Feri. Ernst and Belcourt deliver a spirited account of “The ladies up on stage”, which becomes a musical motif embodying the carefree life of the cabaret. Baritone Handaya Rusli and mezzo-soprano Meghan Symon bring out all the humour in the oh-so-proper Prince Leopold Maria von Lippert-Weylersheim and his wife Princess Anhilte.

Derek Bate, who conducted the operetta in 2011, leads the ten-member ensemble in a stylish account of the score. As far as I can tell, due to TOT’s championing of Kálmán, Toronto has seen more productions of Die Csárdásfürstin since 1990 than any other city in North America. That is all to the good since this is an operetta that really should be as well-known as any by Johann Strauss, Jr. or Franz Lehár. Thanks again to TOT and its excellent cast for helping us celebrate the end of the old year and brightening our mood at the start of the new.

Christopher Hoile

For tickets visit: www.torontooperetta.com.

Photos: Maeve Palmer as Sylvia Varescu; Patricia Wrigglesworth as Stasi and Scott Rumble as Edwin; Sebastian Belcourt as Count Boni with ensemble. © 2025 Gary Beechey.