Review: THE SOUND OF MUSIC at Volksoper Wien

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s eternal holiday favourite musical, The Sound of Music is so much more than a stage incarnation of the legendary, multi-award winner movie. The current German language version from Volksoper Wien is a faithfully produced, serviceably staged, beautifully sung performance, a rare delight to the ears.

This production (stage direction and choreography by Renaud Doucet) is not a new one, the premiere took place back in 2005 as the first major, German language staging of the musical in the Austrian capital. The translation of the intricate lyrics of Hammerstein is quite acceptable even to ears accustomed to the original phrases. One of the most delicate ones, My Favourite Things even has some fine lines connected to the culinary traditions of the country, where the musical took place: Schnitzel mit Noodles.

On this performance of 19th May, the success of the night (afternoon, actually, as it started at 4.30 PM) rested on the shoulders of the main protagonists. The young American soprano, Lauren Urquhart (Maria) has a beautiful voice, strong stage presence as well as real charm which is essential to this part. Equally convincing was Axel Herrig (Captain von Trapp), a veteran performer in this staging. But the biggest applause came after the showstopping (and act-ending) number, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, which was amazingly sung by audience favourite Austrian Kammersaenger operatic soprano, Ulrike Steinsky (Mother Abbess). The von Trapp children were also great individually and together, and frankly, that's not always the case.

The musical direction was also a tremendous help for the singer-actors, in Freddie Tapner’s hand, the scaled-up orchestra sounded like the best ones you can hear on any cast recordings. Or, to tell the truth, even better, as you cannot find any recording with such rich orchestral playing and such gorgeous percussion sounds.

On this afternoon, the mixed audience of locals, expats, tourists and big families with children was treated with a musical masterpiece staged with care and played at the highest possible level. Singing the final lines of Edelweiss together with audience and cast members at the final applause was a real honour, nothing less.

Photo credit: Barbara Pálffy/Volksoper Wien