Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus, a Viennese operetta famed for its association with champagne, receives a new production at Opera Holland Park that relocates the action to London on New Year's Eve 1929. Director and choreographer Liam Steel transforms the story into a louche Noël Coward-style farce, complete with references to the Sitwells, Mitfords and Winston Churchill's supposed dalliance with Ivor Novello. While the concept has potential, the production takes time to build its fizz, with the bubbles only truly rising in the third act.
Setting and style
Steel uses the Metropolitan Opera's 2013 English version with lyrics by Jeremy Sams and a new book by Douglas Carter Beane. Neil Irish's set for the Eisensteins' salon, with free-standing doorframes on the forestage, feels insufficiently nouveau riche but allows intimate contact with the audience. The second act's deco ballroom with a gilded Degas centrepiece is more impressive, yet the rear-stage placement distances the performers. The third act, set in a police station with a winning performance by Robert Burt as an affable moustachioed bobby, finally raises the chuckle level.
Performances and vocals
Steel's physical comedy lands effectively, and Sams's elegant lyrics shine: “Drink another drink with me, you’ve had none and I’ve had three,” sings the tenor Alfred, played stentorially by Xavier Heterington. Acting is inconsistent, with act one initially evoking Acorn Antiques, but strong performances emerge from Rebecca Bottone as cockney chambermaid Adele, Julien Van Mellaerts as an affected Dr Falke in midnight-blue velvet, and Matthew Siveter as a bluff Yorkshire Inspector Frank. Thomas Atkins's Eisenstein pairs with Siveter for a faux-French encounter that earns laughter.
Musical highlights
George Jackson conducts the City of London Sinfonia stylishly, though the music often overwhelms the singers. Nonetheless, vocal standouts include Alison Langer as Rosalinde, Clare Presland as the gender-fluid Orlofsky, and especially Bottone, who nails her Laughing Song. Olivia Carrell sparkles as the chorus girl Ida in the thankless role. Die Fledermaus runs at Opera Holland Park, London, until 8 August.
