Baden Stage / City Theatre Summer Arena – 24.8.2024:
“WIENER BLUT” – Operetta by Johann Strauss Jr.
It couldn’t be better!
Clemens Kerschbaumer, Sieglinde Feldhofer and ensemble. Photo: Bühne Baden/Christian Husar
So beautiful – so clever – so amusing – so thought-provoking – each individual character is visually and acoustically unique – the action can easily be attributed to the year 1815, as the authors intended, and is on the one hand understandable today, but on the other hand remains mysterious… One could not help but be amazed and admire the artists involved!
In any case, the staging of Michael Lakner in addition to the stage design by Erich Uiberlacker, the costumes of Friederike Friedrich and the choreography of Anna Life be mentioned first.
The open-air stage, called the summer arena, is not very wide and not very deep. The fact that the team succeeds in placing the individual actors, as well as the choristers and dancers, not only beautifully but also sensibly, deserves praise. The costumes, which are not only beautiful but also meaningfully distinguish the individual characters, are also admirable. And the interaction of all the stage personalities deserves the highest praise. And you can’t stop laughing just looking at the individual faces, postures and mutual reactions…
There must have been a lot of work by the directing and music team behind this…
What is also admirable about this production is that although everyone involved can sing, there is only one truly great, significant singing voice. Sieglinde Feldhofer, Star of the Graz Opera, where she appears in operas, operettas and musicals and obviously has no excessive desire to perform in large opera houses. The Vienna Volksoper, Mörbisch, Bad Ischl, Peking, Braunschweig, the Dresden State Operetta and others have also been pleased with her and various CDs and DVDs are available. In Baden she is the wife of Balduin Graf Zedlau – delicious the native Viennese Clemens Kerschbaumer, who bravely makes his way through the tenor role and delightfully plays out his varied interests in the opposite sex.
The costumes and wigs play an important role in the entire operetta. I should actually print all the photos from the program, whether of the main or supporting roles – the variety of shapes and colors is enormous.
The same goes for the director’s idea of placing three rotating windows and doors in the background of the small stage, which reveal hidden love affairs on several occasions. All attempted sins, hidden feelings, but ultimately explainable relationships are deliciously revealed – you just have to see it and laugh yourself to death several times.
Here are the individual types: Franziska Cagliari – Dancer at the Kärntertortheater Vienna; Andy Lee Lang-Kaglerher father, carousel owner and musician; Verena Barth-Jurca – Pepi Pleininger, taster; Beppo Binder – Josef, the count’s valet; Mario Fancovic – A cab driver; Russi Nikoff – Count Bitowski; and Daniele Greabu – Leopold, waiter. As a stage musician, Christian Hoeller on the accordion.
The music of Johann Strauss Jr. brings the stage and singing to life throughout the entire evening in a simply enchanting way! Choir and ballet of the Baden stage blend seamlessly with the action on stage, which is not only amusing but also really beautiful!
Sieglinde Pfabigan
