October 2008 , vol 73 , no.4
RECORDINGS
Video
BRETÓN: LA VERBENA DE LA PALOMA Suárez, Navarro, Pardo; López, Rubiera; Community of Madrid Orchestra and Chorus, Roa. Production: Bollaín. Decca 074 3262, 75 mins., subtitled
La Verbena de la Paloma is one of the masterworks of género chico (one-act comic) zarzuela, a piece so moored to its 1894 Madrid setting — in script and score — that any attempt to remove it from that era would be asking for trouble. Trouble is precisely what adapter–director Marina Bollaín gets in yet another Eurotrash update inflicted on a classic operetta, presented at the theater of the Escorial in 2006. The set is a nine-apartment box, plus roof (reminding me of the set for Street Scene crossed with Bye Bye Birdie); the costumes mix Hard Rock Café T-shirts and jeans with just a few of the ruffles and fringes of old Madrid, which remain as souvenirs of the original, much-missed look.
The jealous printer Julián (exceptionally well sung by José Antonio López) is now a butane-gas delivery boy, while the rakish old druggist Don Hilarión has become, even more inexplicably, a young, leather-and-shades swinger, who bathes with rubber ducks. (¿Por qué?) The nasty, reproving Aunt Antonía has had a sex-change operation to become a mild hairdresser, and gone are the familiar little cameos of the policemen, the night watchman and others, all awkwardly absorbed vocally by a trio of card-and-pétanque players on the roof.
Very little is gained dramatically by the compartmental set, and the pivotal choral “Chi-na-na” seguidillas extolling the fiesta have none of the force of the great “¿Dónde vas con mantón de Manila?” habañera-ensemble, where the principals are all out in the calle together — finally.
In a further attempt to update the operetta, this production has added a second act, supposedly taking place at the verbena, or fiesta, itself. It’s not part of the original, and the pop-concert numbers — a rumba, a bomba and a love song about gardenias — seem untouched by composer Tomás Bretón, who surely would have been horrified at such egregious additions.
The pity of this production is that musically, under the always-dependable Miguel Roa, it is top-quality, with a good (if rather uncomfortable-looking) chorus and further good soloists, including a superb, plummy Marina Pardo as Seña Rita, Julián’s older woman friend. Their duets are exceptionally effective and made me forget the dull surroundings. Some comic relief comes with a pleasant little documentary in the interval, showing real Madrid verbena activity and a clowny bullfight, and (inadvertently) with some of the subtitles — “I’ve got mains gas!” and “You waste of space!” were two of my faves.
For a much more accurate rendition of this great work, even though it is missing some of the music, I recommend the 1934 Spanish film version, faultlessly cast and directed — which someday should appear on DVD.
RICHARD TRAUBNER
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