Paganini

This is one of a series of Lehár operettas filmed in the early 1970s. Really to enjoy them you probably need to have nostalgic feelings about West German television of that era, for they are very much of their time indeed in terms of both technology and taste (or the lack of it, some might say). Otherwise perhaps the only reason today for watching such a kitsch 1973 version of a 1925 operetta is the absence of alternative performances on DVD.

Lehár's "Paganini" is a typically romantic confection, very loosely based on the historical connection between Niccolo Paganini, the great violinist, and Princess Anna Elisa, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. For television, the sequence of scenes has been revised a little to achieve a greater variety of settings, but the film follows the original libretto fairly closely. Though production values and lighting are decidedly stagey, this can be tolerated, I think, given that it was a stage-work in the first place. The lead roles are taken by impressive vocalists. Antonio Theba is very well cast as Paganini. While failing perhaps to convey the imperious side of Anna Elisa, Teresa Stratas sounds splendid and looks very pretty and sympathetic.

However, there are serious drawbacks to this production. For a start, the singers are obviously miming to their own recordings. In itself, this might not necessarily be a major problem, only they do it in a sadly misguided way, for which the director must bear responsibility. On screen, for the sake of visual realism, the characters sing to each other in an intimate, conversational fashion. On the sound track, to do justice to the music, they sing in full operatic voices. Consequently, while lip synchronisation with the words is not bad, in the absence of appropriate mouth, throat, and chest movements, I found it hard to stop thinking, 'That voice can't possibly be coming out of that body!'

Secondly, the music has been considerably reduced and re-arranged. This production cuts out most of the choruses, recitatives, and extended musical scenes (including the greater part of the Act I and Act II finales), and several songs are limited to a single verse. Some extra music (probably not by Lehár) has been added in places. The effect of these changes is to make the work much less operatic and emotionally intense. Given the need to fit television schedules and appeal to a mass audience, I suppose these revisions are to some extent understandable and forgivable.

What is quite unforgivable is the crass re-orchestration of the score. The credits (ha!) lead me to suppose that one Bert Grund carried out this musical crime. Some numbers are merely weakened by his efforts. Others are ruined by them. His preference was for busy violin descants, conspicuous woodwind twiddly-bits, syncopated brass, and the constant beat of soft brushes on side-drum. The comic duets for Bella and Pimpinelli suffer most of all, as Grund really lets himself go, overpowering the melodies with his elaborations. It is astonishing that the producers actually paid somebody to wreak such damage and shameful that the owners of the rights agreed (given how much Lehár prided himself on his orchestration). Presumably the idea in 1973 was to make the songs sound more 'with it' in contemporary 'easy-listening' style.

If you want to make yourself familiar with the plot of "Paganini" and some of its chief tunes, this version will serve. If you love the music of Lehár, however, you will probably not want to hear it more than once – which is a pity, given the quality of Theba, Stratas, and Koller.

For at least a DVD document of Lehar's operetta Paganini, this 1973 film version is definitely worth a look. But I also have to agree that those who know the operetta beforehand and are very fond of Lehar may not find this particularly ideal. There are certainly some very good things about the film, the costumes and sets are very opulent and everything is beautifully shot. The orchestral playing is beautifully balanced and the sounds there are are appropriately luscious, and there is evidence of great, sensitive musicality and leadership in the conducting, doing justice at least to the music which at least in the operetta itself wonderful. The performers I have no complaints about either, Antonio Theba is spot-on vocally and dramatically, Dagmar Koller is appealing and Teresa Stratas, singing with lovely tone and conscientiousness, is sympathetic and imperial. Johannes Heesters is good as well. Sadly, as intimate and intelligent the stage direction is, the fullness of the voices and orchestral playing- some may argue that it is not operetta-like enough- just doesn't gel with the stage direction. I also agree about the additional music and re-orchestration(the cuts weren't as huge a problem for me), the former sounds as though it doesn't quite fit with Lehar's quite unique style and the latter not only makes the melodies less prominent more they ought to be but also gives the impression that it is more complicated than it needed to be. In conclusion, disappointing but still interesting. 6/10 Bethany Cox