glorious viennese music
Finally a Leo Fall operetta on DVD. This may be the first Viennese operetta set in the U. S. Music, though, is definitely Viennese. This is a TV production from about 35 years ago ans is wonderful. Cast and sets are fantastic and the color is outstanding. And the Americanization of many of the dances is great fun, especially in the last act set in an old west saloon with cowboys and Indians doing there thing on the dance floor. And there's even a Western brawl! Fall's music is glorious and it's easy to see why that, for a while, this was almost as popular as The Merry Widow which it followed!
How quickly things date...
When it was first produced, Leo Fall's "The Dollar Princess" was the latest thing in operetta, with its chorus of typists and its sharp satirical book. The title character, who runs her father's company, hires a man to be her secretary, and falls reluctantly in love. (Hepburn-Tracy, anyone?) Meanwhile, an adventuress schemes to marry the father, and a secondary couple sort out their own romance. When this version was mounted for television in 1971, the producers treated it like a Broadway show, souping up the arrangements and trimming down the more extended music. (The big waltz survives as a party entertainment.) There are some nice tunes--though none of them operetta classics--performed in earnest by an attractive cast. The result, alas, looks just as dated now as the original must have looked to them, but if you're not a purist, there's a good deal of fun to be had. Clear subtitles, nice booklet.
IF YOU LOVE OPERETTAS DON'T FALL IN LOVE WITH SUCH DVD
THIS IS A REAL OFFENCE TO THE ORIGINAL OPERETTA AND THE EXTRAORDINARILY BEAUTIFUL MUSIC OF LEO FALL IS RE-ORCHESTRATED WHICH MEANS THAT THOSE TV PEOPLE ARE THE GREATEST ENNEMIES OF OPERETTAS. THIS DVD HAS ONLY ONE PLACE: THE GARBAGE CAN.
Ernesto Oppicelli - Genoa/Italy
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