On 'Merry Wives'
By Peter Jacobi
October 19, 2008
Both stage director Vincent Liotta and conductor David Effron referred to Johann Strauss’ sparkling operetta, “Die Fledermaus,” while speaking to me about the Indiana University Opera Theater’s upcoming production of “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” one that opens Friday evening at the Musical Arts Center.
This work by 19th-century German composer Otto Nicolai “is like a Viennese operetta,” said Liotta, “like ‘Fledermaus’ if it had been written to a text by Shakespeare.” Effron put the description this way: “It’s like ‘Fledermaus,’ but it isn’t. To enjoy the opera is as easy as enjoying the Strauss favorite. To do it is difficult. That takes an understanding of the German language and Nicolai’s life and times. Stylistically, it’s quite something, hard for the singers. It’s not performed often in this country.” 
Effron, however, has conducted it a number of times in Germany. “I learned it from those who’d sung it for 30 years. I came to know the pitfalls and tricks. It is one of my favorite operas, and I was happy to step in when Klauspeter became ill and had to cancel.” The German-born Klauspeter Seibel, a wielder of the baton with wide experience in operatic repertoire, in particular that of his homeland, had been contracted to conduct the Opera Theater production. “When he couldn’t make it,” said Effron, “we found it impossible to get a replacement in time, what with visa requirements and such. Happily, it turned out that I could take over.”
Liotta called the piece “interesting, with music totally delightful. It was new for me and has become an adventure, a discovery. When I got into the project, I did so knowing Verdi’s take on the story, his ‘Falstaff.’ Since the Verdi was written half a century later, ‘The Merry Wives’ have been put on the backburner. This isn’t ‘Falstaff.’ It’s about the wives, not the guys. The opera is not a masterpiece, but it’s definitely engaging. I think it needs to be played broadly, close to slapstick to work best for our audiences. They can expect to laugh. Our casts are playing it in the style we’ve been hoping to capture. They’ve got a good sense for timing.”
“Humor is different from country to country,” noted Effron. “The Germans tend to be more subtle than we are. Vince has taken those factors into account and is staging the opera a bit more like ‘The Barber of Seville.’ And it’s working. He has — I have — an experienced set of singers. They’ve all sung other roles here, so they know their way on stage. The whole rehearsal period has been fun, without any major problems.”
Because Nicolai’s opera contains much dialogue, Shakespeare in German, Liotta has translated the spoken parts of the opera back into English. Thus, we will hear English speaking and German singing. “It’s a good solution,” said Effron. “The characters come to life. The humor stands out. It’s been interesting: One of the ‘wives’ among our singers is bilingual in English and German. To watch her switch so comfortably is an experience, and it’s been helpful to others in the cast. They’ve fed off her in their efforts to master the back and forth between languages.
“As for the music,” Effron added, “Nicolai was, like other German composers of opera during the first half of the 19th century, greatly influenced by Mozart. In fact, he left a set of piano pieces based on themes from ‘The Magic Flute.’ You might say ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ is a bit like Mozart’s ‘Abduction from the Seraglio,’ in the way that dialogue and arias intermingle. The music is lighthearted. The overture is one of the best of its time, often played as a concert piece. Its themes are repeated in the opera.
“There’s a wonderful opening,” Effron continued, “a great duet for women, really one of the strongest openings for an opera. And later, there’s a soprano aria much like a grand opera aria, with great vocal challenges. It would make a terrific audition piece, but then, so few singers in this country are familiar with the score, so the likelihood of that aria being selected is slim. Too bad. People should take easily to the score, however. It is tuneful. Nicolai was a thorough craftsman, too. One can appreciate how the story evolves musically and how Nicolai blended the vocal and orchestral.” Effron will have the IU Symphony in the pit.
Opera Theater has staged “The Merry Wives of Windsor” only twice before in its 60 year history, most recently in 1981. Whatever sets once were there weren’t anymore. Rather than create new ones for an opera not likely to be done often in the years ahead, the powers-that-be decided to make use of those previously employed for “Falstaff.” The scenes are similar in the Verdi and the Nicolai. “In fact, they’re the same venues,” explained Liotta, “just used in different order. That made adapting Bob O’Hearn’s for ‘Falstaff’ a solution. They’re handsome sets and definitely suitable.”
Premiered in Berlin in 1849, the same year that Otto Nicolai died, a month short of his 39th birthday, “The Merry Wives” has remained a favorite for German audiences. The composer — also, during a distinguished career, one of the founders of the Vienna Philharmonic and its first conductor, as well as Kapellmeister at the Royal Opera in Berlin — spoke joyfully of his Shakespearean opera, stating that “its composition made me very happy. The happiest hours of an artist are those which he spends in creation.”
The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music would like
to thank the Herald Times for permission to republish this review.
