Review: Lehar: The Merry Widow***

Giles Havergal's new production of Lehar's The Merry Widow for Opera North turns back the clock more than 100 years to recreate the glamorous life of Parisian high-society at the turn of the century.

The story takes place at the Pontevedrian Embassy where they are looking for a husband for the wealthy widow, Hanna, who has inherited such a vast fortune it could bankrupt the country if she married a foreigner.

That quest gets mixed up with Valencienne, the wife of a wealthy Baron Zeta, who is having an affair with Camille, both situations thought rather risque when the operetta was first performed. Into this scene arrives Hanna's one-time boyfriend, Danilo, who is rather dubious about her new-found wealth, and when she throws a costume party the story is set for some amusing romantic incidents.

Budgets are tight nowadays and maybe a little has been shed in the costume budget, and the quirky wigs and dress for the "girls" from Maxims simply does not work. But with a large and adaptable set it still proves visually attractive.

The orchestra pit is full of Viennese lilt, but on stage it is a very British performance, with Stephanie Corley a vivacious Hanna, and the excellent William Dazeley as a suitably reluctant Danilo. We needed a more pert voice for Valencienne; Allan Clayton is a pleasing Camille, and of the staff at the Embassy, Richard Burkhard as the Attache stands out from the crowd.

Returning to the Grand Theatre in December.