UK Theatre Network

La Wally is another first production by Opera Holland Park of a neglected work. Catalani’s piece is very much a preoccupation with German romanticism tempered with Italian sensibilities.

 Set in the Tyrol,  tomboyish Wally is celebrated in song by her friend  Walter (Alinka Kozari) for her  rock climbing skills and life saving antics.  Stromminger, Wally's father, encounters another group of hunters from the  nearby village of Sölden.  Hagenbach( Adrian Dwyer) son of Stromminger’s long held enemy leads the group, and a violent quarrel is provoked. Wally breaks this up and there is an instant attraction between her and Hagenbach. Love rival Gellner  (Stephen Gadd) notices the attraction and alerts Stromminger to this, who then beats Wally and insists she marry Gellner or be cast out. Wally refuses the match and is sent away.  

 Her fortunes inprove with the death of her father and she inherits  property. She returns to the town, wealthy but  naïvely ignorant of the consequences of her actions, and of the duplicity of other people.

The storyline is at times not made of strong dramatic stuff. Catalani’s beautiful score is what is most attractive about  the production.  Stephen Richardson plays Stromminger as a  pure bully.  Gweneth -Ann Jeffers is excellent as the brutalized,  tragic Wally. A difficult piece to stage, designer  Jamie Vartan created alpine scenes via a giant white tarpaulin manipulated with ropes and pulleys. This was  not always successful, but at  the  dramatic conclusion came into its own for its starkness  together with daring aerial artist display.
Catalani’s piece is a curious work, but the music is beautiful and definitely worth a look  to round off another  diverse season at Opera Holland Park.

July 29, August 3, 5, 10, 12 at 7.30pm
Opera Holland Park
http://www.operahollandpark.com/