The sensational “Madame Pompadour” at the Lehár Festival in Bad Ischl

On Saturday, the Lehár Festival Bad Ischl as the most important operetta scene in the world kicked off with an unsurpassable sensation: the late comic work “Madame Pompadour” chosen for the 150th birthday of Leo Fall, not only a musical in the style of the 1920s, often be a jazz-like arrangement corresponding to the previous century by the conductor Christoph Huber, who was not at a loss for innovations, and his comrades-in-arms Matthias Griminger and Henning Hagedorn, but also a new version of the libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Welch, also intended as an upgrade .

Since director Thomas Enzinger introduced himself during the ceremony as Colin, host of Madame Pompadour, and presented his own script in good old Simpl style, suspicion arose that

The multifaceted operetta specialist, as the multinational of the evening, took care of everything himself: the editing, the direction, the conferences and the moral, which he presented of course from an 18th century perspective to today’s politicians on the open stage in relation to 2024 in cultural capital: hold together, in relation to With what is to come, culture is the focus, not the debate. The public got it. Hopefully those have taken up too.

Perfect performance by all involved

The technical collaboration regarding the evening of the show was more than perfect. All three courts benefited from Sabine Lindner’s sensational stage design, which was also technically perfect. Sven Bendsil did not skimp on a variety of costumes either, so the comic singers, who acted without limits in terms of vocal and comic expressiveness, found ideal conditions. The insurmountable Franz Lehar Orchestra, conducted from melody to melody by Christoph Huber, as well as the choir and dance ensemble met all the requirements in congress and theater house, from vocal to circus maturity.

At the top was Julia Coucy, the perfect representative of Madame Pompadour. What a domineering, powerful, enchanting look, what a playful mastery of the wealth of melodies, what an almost dramatic battle against self-interest for Madeleine’s (brilliant Elisabeth Zeller) happy ending! She finds her husband René again, who has loaned Dedications to Mozart by Maximilian Mayer. The Loes Cools are just as ebullient as comical maid Belotte as Buffo Kaj-Louis Lucke as the seemingly lonely Joseph, whose famous duet with the Marquise “pops” with a very subtle nuance. As Louis XIV, the great Claudio Sola rehearsed delicious dance steps. Alfred Rauch, Marcus Rapp, and Tim Winkelhofer all have their big moments in small roles.

Including the nearly half-hour opening ceremony and intermission, the premiere evening lasted three and a half hours. The performers and viewers showed no signs of fatigue. Some shouted excitedly, while others enjoyed cheering with the final encore.

By Ingo Rickl