Name: Das Land des Lächelns
Start: 2020-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2020-04-08T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Opernhaus

Organization

Conductor

Fabio Luisi

Stage director

Andreas Homoki

Set designer

Klaus Grünberg

Lighting designer

Costume designer

Silke Willrett

Dramaturge

Kathrin Brunner

Singer

Tenor

Piotr Beczała

Prince Sou-Chong

Soprano

Julia Kleiter

Lisa

Rebeca Olvera

Spencer Lang

Count Gustav von Potterstein

Baritone

Cheyne Davidson

Tschang

Martin Zysset

Eunuch

Opernhaus Zürich

Others

Chor der Oper Zürich

Orchestra

Philharmonia Zürich

Das Land des Lächelns -  (The Land of Smiles)

Zurich

Switzerland

Opernhaus

“Always smile and always be cheerful, always satisfied, no matter what happens, smile in spite of your sorrows and a thousand aches and pains,” sings Prince Sou-Chong, thus introducing the fundamentally melancholic tone of “Das Land des Lächelns” (The Land of Smiles), which even has a tragic ending in store. For the new production of this operetta, world-class tenor Piotr Beczala returned to the Opernhaus Zürich as Sou-Chong. He has an equal partner in Julia Kleiter, who plays the role of Lisa. Fabio Luisi and Andreas Homoki also know that the genre of operetta requires particular care – which is why they have assumed personal responsibility for this production.

Homoki lets the plot take place in a Paris Variété theater from the 1920s, complete with show staircase and heavy curtains. To emphasize the operatic elements, he condensed the piece, cutting several secondary roles and shortening dialogues.

Recorded live at the Opernhaus Zürich, June 2017
Directed by Michael Beyer
A production of Accentus Music in co-production with ZDF and in co-operation with Arte and Opernhaus Zürich.

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In this successful Zurich production, Das Land des Lächelns remains what it is: a romantic operetta. Andreas Homoki’s staging focusses on the characters and their emotions. With a superb cast and an excellent conducting by Fabio Luisi this is without any doubt the best video production currently available. -- pizzicato

Production booklet

Further reading