Sometimes a few special circumstances have to come together to make something very special possible.
In the case of the Freies Landestheater Bayern (FLTB), which is based in Miesbach, the trigger was an anniversary.
The FLTB is now in its 40th season, and it's allowed to be a suitably strong accent.
In addition, at the age of 66, director Rudolf Maier-Kleeblatt is no longer obliged to serve as a teacher, but can now freely devote himself to his ensemble.
The result - Franz Lehár's "The Land of Smiles", which premiered in Berlin in 1929 as a new version of the comic opera "The Yellow Jacket" - is on the weekend, 28./29.
May, to see and above all to hear in Miesbach.
Because for Lehár's romantic operetta, which describes the astonished meeting of the Western and Eastern worlds, the FLTB musically pushes the limit.
35 musicians occupy the orchestra pit – more than ever before at the Freies Landestheater.
And if you listen closely to Maier-Kleeblatt, even a small liberation is not out of the question - a strong artistic sign of life after two years of corona-related throttling to zero.
"We allowed ourselves that"
"'The Land of Smiles'," he says, "we treated ourselves to.
It's even bigger than 'Carmen' or 'The Magic Flute' or 'Der Freischütz'.
We allowed ourselves to feel that we belong together again.” Around 150 artists, musicians and other cultural workers have taken part in this production.
"We kept the piece for many years." Now the right moment has come.
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A premiere like no other
The rehearsals were not exactly easy.
Regular corona tests for the rehearsals, the implementation of the hygiene concept and balancing the different moods in the ensemble - from carelessness to corona fear - had to be reconciled in addition to the artistic challenge.
The result is an "outstanding work of Viennese operetta from the late 1920s, when Lehár was at the peak of his creativity," enthuses Maier-Kleeblatt.
The conductor Maier-Kleeblatt is required
As a conductor, he is particularly challenged.
Lehár musically pulls out all the stops, going to the extreme.
The play takes up the East-West theme in two parts: the first takes place in Vienna, the second in China.
"It has two poles," says Maier-Kleeblatt, "Today one would say a hybrid piece.
It is masterfully done, difficult, complex.
I have seldom conducted something so difficult.
A constant giving in and tightening.
Every punch has to be flexible.”
Occupation as a stroke of luck
The casting of the two main roles is a stroke of luck: soprano Isabel Blechschmidt from Nuremberg sings the young Countess Lisa, who falls in love with the Chinese envoy Prince Sou Chong at court, who is voiced by the South Korean singer Stefano Hwang, also from Nuremberg.
He also helped the ensemble to get a better grip on one or the other Asian peculiarity, for example how to pronounce the names.
An expressive stage design and great costumes by Miesbach's dress master Anne Hebbeker give the production its special colorful touch.
The ensemble has had three months of rehearsals and is now performing the piece about 15 times.
As always variable - on big and small stages.
"In terms of quality, we can play it in any German municipal theater," says Maier-Kleeblatt.
And as a complete package, the Waitzinger Keller is also in a class of its own.
"Playing here gives us a lot of pleasure."
Tickets
are available for 42.50, 40.50, 35.50, 30.50 and 25.50 euros in the Waitzinger Keller cultural center in Miesbach on z 0 80 25 / 7 00 00 or by email to ticket@waitzinger-keller.de as well as via www.muenchen-ticket.de and eventim.de.
In addition, the evening box office is open one hour before the start of the event.
The game will be played on Saturday, May 28th at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, May 29th at 3 p.m.
ddy
