“The Florentine Hat”: A Laugh-Out-Loud Opera With Artistic Brilliance.

“Finally an opera in which you can laugh heartily.” This statement from a visitor to the performance “The Florentine Hat“ von broken boy at the Graz Opera must be agreed unreservedly. As the director Bernd Mottl stated in his video introduction to this work, we don’t really have much to laugh about at the moment. It was the same as the Italian composer, best known for his film music for works by Luchino Visconti, Francis Ford Coppola, Lina Wertmüller and Franco Zeffirelli. He began it in 1944-45, in the midst of the final horrors of Nazi rule. Only 10 years later, before the premiere, did he complete the musical part.

He wrote the libretto together with his mother after a comedy by Eugène Labiche and Marc Antoine Amédée Michel, which had appeared in 1851 and was extensively edited. No wonder, because such a twisted and tricky plot, in which everything develops several times in an unimagined direction within a few moments, you first have to invent.

The story of a Florentine straw hat that is accidentally eaten by a horse in a forest, without which the owner cannot return home to her jealous husband, is breathtakingly constructed. At the same time, it contains many moments that are bursting with slapstick and are enchanting precisely because of their humorous implausibility, coupled with a highly artistic dramaturgy.

The direction does justice to the satirical plot and comes up with several unexpected, lighthearted details. At the same time, the characters remain psychologically understandable. A cast that also contributes to the success Recording a CD justified, which is available at the ticket center. Piotr Buszewski proves outstanding in the role of Fadinard, the groom whose wedding day turns out to be the most challenging day of his life. Not only his comedic talent, but above all his bright, but never sharp tenor, convinced the audience, who thanked him with extraordinarily long-lasting applause. At his side, equally successfully cast, Tetiana Miyus is his bride Elena. As the only one all in white – in contrast to the other black and white costumes of the rest of society, she embodies a young woman with many facets. From the joy of the upcoming wedding to the panic before the first night of love and the sadness of having to leave her father and her previous home, you can experience all her emotions in a credible way. Vocally one cannot imagine a better interpreter for this role. Confident in the highs without feeling any effort, perfectly differentiated dynamically in the duets, she shone at every moment.

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“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

“The Florentine Hat” (Photo: Werner Kmetitsch)

Both Anna Brull as the love-addicted and deluded Baroness de Champigny and Andzelika Wisniewska as Anaide, the adulteress whose hat gave rise to all errors and confusion, are wonderful antagonists to the young bride. They too, with their costumes (Alfred Mayerhofer), are on the one hand indebted to the nobility and on the other hand adequately equipped for a trip to the countryside. The brilliant stage design by Friedrich Eggert deserves a special mention. The way he varied the whole opera with the hat box motif has great class and is aesthetically extraordinarily successful. Daeho Kim as the farmer and father of the bride and Ivan Orescanin as Beaupertuis are instrumental in that side story that produces new laughs over and over again. The unintentional exchange of shoes, which are too small for one person and then for another, is implemented in such a humorous way that you can’t get enough of it. The fact that both of them correspond vocally in every respect in their roles, like everything in this production, fits just as perfectly as the musical direction of Daniele Squeo.

Musically, Nino Rota stands completely outside the compositional canon of the 20th century for his time. Rather, his role models, Donizetti, Offenbach and Strauss, and even a few bars of Wagner from the opera can be clearly heard. Wonderful duets and solos, especially when the groom and his bride sing about love, are a delight to the ears. Rapid gallops, a sluggish funeral march or sweet violin melodies result in a colorful mix of sounds, completely different from the many atonal or serial compositions that prevailed at the time of composition.

The idea of ​​starting the action in nightgowns and sleepyheads and having some of the people in the last picture reappear in them can be interpreted as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the duration of the action, which takes place over the course of a day. Thanks are due to the director, Nora Schmidt, who brought ‘Il cappello di paglia di Firenze’ – the Italian title – to the performance in Graz. During her time in Graz, which ends with this season, she repeatedly succeeded in performing small, little-known opera pearls here. To the delight of the public and well-received beyond the city limits.