The Victor Herbert you never knew

Victor Herbert’s ‘Cyrano’ and “Madeleine’

In
3 minute read
Lennick: Spurned invitations.
Lennick: Spurned invitations.

To the extent that his name is remembered today, Victor Herbert is identified with sentimental ballads enjoyed by our grandparents (or great-grandparents), like “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life” and “Indian Summer.” This week’s Concert Operetta program reminded us how diverse his work really was.

Herbert (1859-1924) composed a cello concerto, two operas, and dozens of light operas that played on Broadway. Daniel Pantano’s group presented one of his earliest operettas, Cyrano de Bergerac, which flopped at its opening in 1899 because it took a comic approach to Rostand’s classic drama. (The title role was played by a burlesque comedian who refused to play a death scene, thus forcing Herbert to change the ending and allow Cyrano to live.) It was never recorded and seems never to have been performed in Philadelphia.

Concert Operetta Theater used a new version that restored the unhappy ending we all know. Its approach is lighthearted rather than tragic, similar to the tone of José Ferrer’s famous 1950 movie version. This Cyrano is a soldier/poet who’s fully aware that his long nose makes him unattractive. This emphasis on Cyrano’s wit and self-awareness lends added poignancy to his death, which occurs just at the point when Roxanne realizes that he’s the author of the love letters that touched her heart.

American waltzes

Herbert’s catchy and lyrical music for Cyrano includes a patriotic hymn, a call to arms (“Follow the beacon of my nose”), a march for rowdy soldiers, a bit of a jig that reminds us of Herbert’s Irish roots, and plenty of waltzes. Some of these are slow serenades and some are up-tempo, but all differ from the waltzes we associate with European operettas.

Johann Strauss, an Austrian who came before him, and Franz Lehár, a Hungarian who came after, have a sound similar to each other, while Herbert’s waltzes take on a different hue. We should probably call them American waltzes because Herbert — born in Ireland and educated in Germany — had assimilated to this country by that time. But I haven’t found any parallel with other American compositions.

Cyrano conveys a hint of Gilbert and Sullivan — whose last collaboration was produced just two years earlier — and we also hear a bit of music hall. Cyrano is catchier, more toe-tapping, than Herbert’s very sentimental operettas like The Red Mill, Babes in Toyland, Naughty Marietta, and Sweethearts that followed in the next two decades. We come away from Cyrano with an appreciation of how individual Herbert’s talent was.

This performance was enhanced by a quintet of musicians in the pit, conducted by Tim Ribchester from the Academy of Vocal Arts. The top-notch cast offered committed acting and accomplished singing, especially by Brian Ming Chu as Cyrano and Evelyn Rossow as the sweet Roxanne. This is one of the most enjoyable performances I’ve heard from this fine organization.

Prima donna

Preceding Cyrano, the company revived Madeleine, the serious Herbert opera, based on a French play, that premièred at the Met in 1914. It’s the story of a prima donna whose admirers and supposed friends, one by one, decline her invitation to dine together on New Year’s Day. The woman has a lovely aria, “A Perfect Day,” but not much else in the way of memorable tunes. Herbert chose to write in a conversational style complemented by orchestral commentary. That accompaniment was expertly supplied by Ribchester on piano and Philadelphia Orchestra member Philip Kates on violin.

Jessica Lennick sang Madeleine with a soaring soprano voice, ably supported by Paul Corujo, Jonas Hacker, Brian Ming Chu, and Christina Chenes. Madeleine dropped from sight after six performances at the Met, so it was of great historic interest that the Concert Operetta Theater brought it back to mark its centennial.

What, When, Where

Cyrano de Bergerac and Madeleine. Music by Victor Herbert. Concert Operetta Theater production March 22-23, 2014 at Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce St., Philadelphia. 215-389-0648 or www.concertoperetta.com.

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