The Merry Widow
- Robert Beale
- 46 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Viktor Leon and Leo Stein, after Meilhac, music by Franz Lehar; script by John Savournin, lyrics by David Eaton
Opera Holland Park, Scottish Opera and D’Oyly Carte Opera co-production, with Buxton International Festival Orchestra
Buxton Opera House
July 10,14,17,21,24, 2026: 2 hrs 50 mins
John Savournin’s rewrite and production of The Merry Widow – previously presented by Scottish Opera, Opera Holland Park and D’Oyly Carte Opera – is an ingenious twist on an old favourite. It’s a bit of a departure for the Buxton International Festival, though thoroughly in keeping with its increasing emphasis on sharing productions with other institutions: a welcome move if it brings high-quality shows to the North of England.
And it is a quality show – a romp, even. Savournin has written his own English text (with lyrics by David Eaton) and transferred the story from a 1900s minor European principality, down on its financial fortunes, to the world of Mafiosi in New York in the 1950s.
So the ambassador character becomes the Godfather, Don Zeta; Danilo the aristocratic first secretary is his consigliere (ie confidante, assistant and hit-man), and Hanna (the eponymous widow) has changed from inheriting a banker’s fortune to being a Southern belle, whose late husband hit lucky growing lemons in Sicily.
The same love-knot remains: Hanna and Danilo were romantically involved before her marriage, but bear painful scars from it. And there’s the same sub-plot about the ambassador’s wife (now called Valentina) receiving a fan with “I love you” written on it from a Frenchman called Camille, which goes astray and causes multiple suspicions of infidelity in these Cosa Nostra circles, just as in Pontevedro. This gives the opportunity for a plethora of Mafia jokes and funny lines - “I’ll order up some lobsters, To share with all the mobsters” just one example.
The action begins in a New York apartment, introduced by a cartoon-style mini-film during the overture; then in another bit of film, after the interval, everyone flies to Sicily, where Hanna’s residence includes – as per the original – a replica of Maxim’s nightclub. So the famous song about it can use the same name – that’s a relief.
One result of the dislocation has to be that most people speak with New York (or extremely squawky Noo Joysey) voices – Valentina, as played by Elizabeth Karani, for instance, sounds like Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain – and those with supposedly Hungarian or Russian origins talk in very thick East European drawl, which unfortunately at some points challenges audibility.
But the large cast is made up of excellent performers, even if hamming it up is their main function: Richard Burkhard as the Don, crucially; and Paula Sides, Scottish Opera and Opera Holland Park’s Hanna, reprising the role. Amy J Payne, Matthew Kellett and Christopher Nairne also repeat their roles from the Scottish performances. Dominic Sedgwick is a worthy interpreter of Danilo, in looks and voice, and the dancing is really good (Kally Lloyd Jones the original choreographer; Merry Holden for the revival).
The set, by takis, is elaborate and colourful and supplies everything the concept asks of it, including a spectacular transformation into Maxim’s at the beginning of Act Three. There is no second interval.
Iwan Davies conducts the Buxton International Festival Orchestra with skill and they give him a crisp and nicely full sound when required. And all the well-known tunes are there – the Vilja Lied (for which everyone onstage simply freezes), the Merry Widow Waltz, and of course the hymn to women’s powers – in this version: Every guy, if he’s wise, will comply… there’s always a dame in charge. Savournin gets the sentimentality in by the end, but it’s just a bit overwhelmed by all the fun and games that precede it.
More info and tickets here
