OPERA 'MARTHA' RESET IN FLAPPER ERA.(Living)

Byline: Frederick W. Winship United Press International

For those who like their opera light, the new production of Flotow's "Martha" at the New York City Opera offers an opportunity to savor a comic opera classic that is revived about once every opera generation.

The City Opera's first season in 1944 featured "Martha" and the Metropolitan Opera mounted a memorable production in 1961 starring Richard Tucker and Victoria de Los Angeles.

The NYCO production that opened at the New York State Theater last weekend is the production John Lehmeyer created for the Opera Company of Baltimore.

Lehmeyer's direction and the sets and costumes created from his designs are fine indeed, but F. Robert Lehmeyer's English translation from the original German is exasperatingly inept and unpoetic. How about "Bring me some beer to fill my glass. Anything else can kiss my boots."?

This revival is notable for taking the action out of its Queen Anne setting at England's Richmond Fair and plunking it down at a coastal resort amusement park of the Blackpool variety in the the reign of George V.

Since the plot revolves around the indenturing of servants, the 1920s update is an anachronism that makes the action seem even sillier than usual.

Lady Harriett, bored with life at court, goes slumming at a seaside carnival where she and her maid, Nancy, become indentured to two young farmers, Plunkett and Lionel, who know them only as Martha and Julia. The action devolves on their attempt to escape from their masters' service but not from their love.

"Martha," first performed in Vienna in 1847, is about as giddy as opera can be. It has, however, a non-stop flow of gorgeous melody that has kept this work in the repertory while Friedrich von Flotow's 17 other operas remain forgotten.

Flotow uses set musical pieces rather than music that forwards the plot, but these pieces include songs that stick in your memory, especially "The Last Rose of Summer," the composer's appropriation of an Irish folk melody.

The opera's story is naive but it deals with real human emotions that find moving melodic expression. Flotow was German but his musical training was French and this is essentially a French opera comique with Italian bel canto vocal passages for the soprano and tenor. In fact, "Martha" is most often sung in Italian.

The NYCO cast has the acting ability to put across the work's humor in the best Gilbert & Sullivan manner and the vocal facility to supply the beautiful singing that the score requires.

This "Martha" is a personal triumph for Martin Thompson, a young tenorfrom Flint, Mich., in the role of Lionel that was a favorite of Enrico Caruso.

Thompson has a big, ringing voice associated with popular tenors such as Alan Jones and Mario Lanza as well as good looks, an athletic figure, winning personality, and a natural acting style. He brought the opening night house down with the aria known as "M'appari" but here rendered in English as "Ah, so fair."

Sheryl Woods' brilliantly faceted soprano, which she uses with agility, makes her a perfect Lady Harriett. She plays the role as a bubblehead blonde flapper who is brought to her senses by the temporary loss of her lover, Lionel. Woods is as lovely to look at as she is to listen to.

Mezzo soprano Lucille Beer and baritone Dean Peterson give strength to the supporting roles of Harriet's oddly sophisticated maid and Lionel's supportive step-brother, although Beer needs to give her voice better projection. Joseph McKee is delightful as the foppish Sir Tristram.

The stylish sets, framed within a wrought iron proscenium, including a realistic roller coaster and a Rolls Royce roadster that zooms across a cardboard landscape. One scene depicts a gas station, perhaps a first in opera, where Lionel seems to be working as a mechanic and where he sings "M'appari."

The flapper era costumes including chiffon gowns in kaleidoscope colors, baggy knickers, and Keystone Kop uniforms add to the charm of this illogical "Martha" that is more P.G. Wodehouse than Queen Anne.