Madame Pompadour was first performed in Vienna in March 1922 and
in London in December 1923. The latter ran for 469 performances and starred
Evelyn Laye and Derek Oldham. They recorded a series of excerpts, once
available on Pearl, but the adaptation for the London stage removed much of
the work’s original character, making it sound more like an inferior musical
comedy than a Viennese operetta.
Although I have not been able to compare it with a score of the original
version, what is heard on this disc sounds very convincing in the
arrangements, the orchestration and the type of voices used. Having
complained when reviewing earlier discs of Fall about performances which
fail in these respects (
Rose of Stambul on Naxos) it is a great pleasure to
listen to one so faithful to the basic character of the music. As a result
what we hear is an immensely enjoyable version of what is often described as
the composer’s best work.
The operetta, best described as being vaguely connected with historical
events, is set in Paris in the time of the French King Louis XV when his
mistress was Madame de Pompadour. The latter is very much the main character
along with Count René, who falls in love with her but, after a series of
unlikely coincidences, returns to his wife who is revealed to be the
Pompadour’s sister.
I have not seen it on stage and cannot comment on how convincing it is
there, but from the helpful and detailed synopsis in the booklet I see no
reason why it could not be successful again. Much would depend on the
casting, and you would be lucky to encounter as idiomatic a performance as
this. The only name familiar to me was that of Heinz Zednik, at one time a
favourite character tenor and here making much of the by no means large part
of the King. All the rest, including the two main characters, also sing with
obvious understanding of the nature of the work and I never found myself
regretting the lack of voices with more obvious star quality. This is above
all an
ensemble production, and this suits the work admirably. No
dialogue is included and no text or translations are provided. However the
synopsis is full and clear and is more than enough to give the context and
gist of each number … and
what numbers. The most obvious “hits” are
the duet
Josef, ach Josef and the waltz
Madame Pompadour,
Kronjuwel der Natur but the whole work is full of charm, variety and
musical interest. It is good to have such a stylish version of a now sadly
neglected operetta.
John Sheppard
