Rehearsals for the singing, dancing and joyful operetta “The Merry Widow” are in full swing
China News Service, Beijing, October 14th (Reporter Gao Kai) A cancan dance brings me back to the “Flower Capital” in my dream, why is a funny love “relatively speechless”. The National Center for the Performing Arts’ production of Lehar’s operetta “The Merry Widow” is about to enter its third round of hilarious performances. The opera is currently undergoing intense rehearsals.
According to reports, in this round of performances, Austrian conductor Thomas Lesner will once again conduct the National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra, playing original Viennese style operetta music. Tanya Kuhn, Song Yuanming, Thomas Wein, and Chinese and foreign opera singers such as Happel, Zhou Zhengzhong, Cynthia Zanovello, Liu Lian, Maximilian Meyer, Cai Chengyu, etc. will perform on the stage, fully demonstrating the charm of this operetta from the perspectives of singing, dancing, and performance. The artistic charm takes the audience to experience the passion and romance of Paris, the “City of Flowers”, and the magnificence and beauty of Vienna, the “City of Music”.
Operetta was born in the mid-19th century and is a lively musical drama form. Different from serious operas, operettas have bright and lively rhythms, light and humorous content, and are more entertaining and comedic. The actors often interact with the audience during the performance. Although dialogue is interspersed, the music of operettas is as rigorous in structure as operas, and often uses popular dance music genres at the time, such as waltzes, polkas, and folk dances from various European countries, but they must be woven very skillfully and carefully to a relatively complete musical and dramatic structure.
In 2017, the operetta “The Merry Widow” produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts made its debut. In order to bring this traditional Viennese operetta closer to the Chinese audience, the National Center for the Performing Arts has invited Ugo de Anna, an experienced opera director who has collaborated with him many times, to serve as the director, set designer, and costume designer of this production. The director transplanted the story that took place in the original script at the beginning of the 20th century to the 1920s and 1930s. He also paid great attention to the details of the stage. Even the choice of every glass decorative pattern took into account the aesthetic needs of the Chinese audience.
A number of media recently walked into the first rehearsal hall of the National Center for the Performing Arts to watch the operetta “The Merry Widow” at a close range, which has entered the rehearsal stage. The singing and dancing performances of the actors conveyed a happy atmosphere to everyone present, especially the beautiful and elegant waltz and the passionate cancan dance scenes, which made people look forward to the complete stage effect of this work.
The main rivalry scenes in the play took place between the two pairs of Hannah and Danilo, Camille and Valencina. In the rehearsal that day, these four roles were played by Tanya Kuhn and Thomas Weinhape respectively, Cynthia Zannovero, and Maximilian Meyer. Their affectionate performances show the twists and turns of emotional conflicts in the play one by one. Four Chinese opera singers, Song Yuanming, Zhou Zhengzhong, Liu Lian, and Cai Chengyu, will also play the two pairs and meet the audience on stage.
From October 19th to 22nd, the operetta “The Merry Widow” produced by the National Center for the Performing Arts will be officially performed on the stage.