Opera fans and newbies to the genre have the chance to catch two operettas this season with Die Fledermaus and H.M.S. Pinafore.
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Vancouver Opera presents Die Fledermaus
When: Oct. 26 and 31, Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 3, 3 p.m.
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre
The UBC Opera Ensemble presents H.M.S. Pinafore by Gilbert & Sullivan
When: Oct. 4 and 5, 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 5 and 6, 2 p.m.
Where: UBC Old Auditorium, 6344 Memorial Rd.
Operetta (opera lite, if you want a quick definition) isn’t something we can expect to sample each and every season, so it’s exceptional to get two operettas this fall. Vancouver Opera opens its latest Die Fledermaus at the end of the month, on Oct. 26, while UBC’s renowned opera training program offers HMS Pinafore, Oct. 4 to 6.
Opera enthusiasts often make a big deal about the various sub-genres of their preferred musical art. Operetta equals lightweight pieces, usually comic, and almost always incorporates spoken dialogue to connect the musical numbers and to drive complicated or even surreal plots. Because it emerged in multiple opera centres in the mid-19th century, there are distinct traditions. Johann Strauss II’s Der Fledermaus (The Bat) dates from 1874. It launched a specifically Austrian operetta tradition that continued well into the first decades of the 20th century.
Vancouver Opera’s most recent exploration of Viennese operetta was a decidedly traditional mounting of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow, back in 2018. While Fledermaus is very much of its particular moment in time, VO plans an updated rendition. Director Ashlie Corcoran will work with a contemporary mise en scène aired last season at L’Opéra de Québec. Fledermaus’s comic action revolves around a New Year’s Eve party, and the Technicolor vision on offer looks campily intriguing. It’s Fledermaus tradition to include cameos during the gala scene, just as it’s expected to throw in a topical reference or two.
“Sharp-eyed audience members might recognize some special guests during the gala scene … but we’ll say no more for now!” is how VO coyly lets operetta newbies in on this time-honoured practice.
Just as Strauss, Jr. was wowing imperial Vienna, the dysfunctional duo of librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan were creating a specifically London-based operetta tradition. Between 1871 and 1896, no less than fourteen “Savoy Operas” — so-called after the purpose-built London theatre designed especially for Gilbert and Sullivan — were the talk of the town.
It all ended badly. Later efforts failed to draw the crowds that the handful of classics brought in, and Gilbert put an end to the collaboration in a huff over expenses. Not that it mattered by then, there was already a solid repertoire of Gilbert and Sullivan hits, which are performed year in, year out ever since.
The UBC Opera Ensembles’ Nancy Hermiston is something of a civic resource for operetta. Vancouver Opera employed her as their director of choice for its 2015 Fledermaus and their 2018 The Merry Widow. That Hermiston thinks this is well worth the time of her almost-professional cast of young singers just underscores the quality of Sullivan’s memorable music and the craft required to make a Gilbert and Sullivan favourite sparkle.
Premiered on New Year’s Eve, 1879, HMS Pinafore is vintage Gilbert and Sullivan, a daffy satire on politics, the British navy, and social privilege. Its best numbers achieved astonishing stature. The Simpsons’ Sideshow Bob, voiced by Kelsey Grammer, fancies himself quite the Savoyard, a potent example of how Gilbert and Sullivan remains part of contemporary culture.
Without being a wet blanket, it’s fair to speculate just why these bourgeois entertainments from the Victorian era retain such lasting appeal. It’s simple: the plots, caricatures, and satire are all well and good, but take away the brilliantly crafted tunes of Sullivan and Strauss, and the magic disappears.