"La Vedova Allegra" by Lehár, Od (2022/2022), Režija: Paolo Giani Cei,, Dirigent Francesco Rosa, Teatro Verdi, Padova, Italy

Director's notes by Paolo Giani The operetta game is never to take yourself seriously. In a world that is increasingly virtual and increasingly devoid of irony, since the filter of distance suppresses human expressions, rediscovering the immediacy and panache of light opera is certainly a unique opportunity. But to take full advantage of these titles, you need to deeply understand their style: this form is often downgraded to a B-series genre, without directly linking it to noble ancestors such as the comic opera and the SingspielGerman. Compared to comic theatre, however, operetta has something extra. Being the youngest daughter of the melodrama, she has the advantage of being able to observe the entire previous production with detachment: like the latest arrivals in the family, she can afford to make fun of her grandparents and uncles without arousing resentment, almost without the victims notice. Thus, the comedian of operetta must not arise from any means, but from the freedom to exaggerate all the theatrical conventions of previous centuries: serious opera thrives on codes that seem ridiculous off the stage, while operetta plays with the same expedients proving to us that they are actually truer than we think. This staging of the Merry Widow , who is the princess of operettas, therefore wants to demonstrate the beauty and charm of the elegant emptiness of frivolity, without renouncing to show the depth of a delicate and complex world. A journey partly dreamed of and partly regretted, between the melancholy and the grotesque, between the surreal and the everyday. Between the ridiculous and the sublime there is only one step, it is said: the Merry Widow is the living example.