Spokane Opera’S ‘Merry Widow’ A Delight

Spokane Opera’s “The Merry Widow” Friday, Sept. 4, The Met

Spokane Opera’s production of “The Merry Widow” has the delight of a whole plate of Viennese pastry but none of the calories.

Franz Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” has an insubstantial plot typical of turn-of-the-century Viennese operetta: The man loves the woman, but she turns him away. Then, the woman realizes she loves the man, but he rejects her. At last they get together. There are some diverting side issues and the compulsory ballroom dancing.

But basically, that’s it; except for Lehar’s captivating tunes and orchestrations that rival Strauss’ (either of the Johanns or even Richard). I warn you, though, these tunes will stick around in your mind for days, showing up unexpectedly when you ought to be thinking about something else.

The Spokane Opera production looks good and sounds good. All the action in this version takes place at Maxim’s, the famous Parisian cabaret-restaurant. George Caldwell’s dandy three-tiered set made use of every inch of The Met’s small stage.

And Sherry Schmidt’s Erte-inspired costumes aptly fit the teasingly erotic nature of Lehar’s operetta.

The singers of the principal roles performed stylishly whether singing or dancing. Soprano Susan Windham, usually heard in more serious roles, showed a buoyant gift for comedy in the part of the rich and merry widow Anna Glawari. She sang beautifully in the touching “Vilja” and in the funny “Silly Cavalier” duet with John Cooper as Anna’s would-be lover Count Danilio Danilovich.

Cooper sang an ardent lover and a cynical diplomat, and he demonstrated a fine-sounding baritone all the while.

The other pair of lovers also did fine work. Heather Steckler (a very promising young soprano) was the married but naughtily flirtatious Valencienne. And tenor Pil-Sung Kim showed a high degree of professionalism as her hopelessly smitten lover Camille.

I was disappointed only in the fact these singers, the women more so than the men, appear to consider understandable diction a low priority. Sheldon Harnick’s English version of the original German lyrics are quite witty, but only if they can be easily understood.

Anthony Taylor expertly reduced Lehar’s complex symphony-orchestra instrumentation to a Met-sized ensemble of 12. Conductor James Schoepflin led a well-paced and well-balanced performance.

“The Merry Widow” will turn 93 this year, but Spokane Opera shows that she is still deliciously fresh as great musical theater always is.