Clivia at Komische Oper Berlin

For the first time the musical cabaret artists Geschwister Pfister can be seen on the stage of the Berlin Opera house in Nico Dostal’s most famous operetta, premiered in 1933 at the Theater am Nollendorfplatz. Hollywood, South American passion and a dash of quirky Berlin humour are the ingredients of this wild farce, driven in highly enjoyable fashion by all manner of clichés – from the star of the silver screen in Greta Garbo mode to the intense revolution à la Che Guevara. And the music indulges in a wide variety of styles and genres, from jazz to zippy Berlin marching songs, via South American rhythms, in the typical refreshing and unselfconscious style of 1920s and 30s operettas.

The plot of Dostal’s first work features a wild blend of characters, including an unlikely romantic couple, a dubious film producer, a reporter driven wild by love, dancing revolutionary Amazons and an eccentric Berlin inventor. Following productions of Kálmán’s Die Bajadere, Kurt Weill’s Der Kuhhandel and Paul Abrahams Ball at the Savoy last season, Clivia constitutes a further and no less fascinating aspect of Berlin operetta. Big choir numbers, smouldering duets for lovers, foot-tapping songs with jazz rhythms and fast-paced, humorous ensembles with a flavour of South American flair – all this reveals the entire spectrum of Dostal’s musical abilities.