Ensemble Phœnix Basel

PAUL ABRAHAM (1892–1960): “DIE BLUME VON HAWAII” (the flower of Hawaii) operetta in three acts (Libretto: Alfred Grünwald, Fritz Löhner-Beda and Emmerich Földes)

Production of Theater Basel, Schauspiel

Premiere (cancelled!): 28th of September 2017, Grosse Bühne, 19.30 h

Further performances: 1. / 7. / 15. / 20. / 23. / 27. / 29. / 31. October, 4. / 18. / 26. November, 8. / 14. December 2017, 7. / 13. /19. January 2018

“Ein Paradies am Meeresstrand” (A paradise on the seashore) and “Will dir die Welt zu Füssen legen” (Will lay the world at your feet) are just two unforgettable evergreens that Paul Abraham composed for his revue operetta “Die Blume von Hawaii”. He and his librettists were inspired by the fate of the last queen of Hawaii, who was disempowered by the Americans and went down in music history as the composer of “Aloha Oe”, to relocate a large part of the plot to an unreachable fantasy location.

Hawaiian nationalists plan to liberate the island from the American occupiers and bring Princess Laya from exile in Paris incognito to marry her off to Prince Lilo-Taro. The American governor, on the other hand, dreams of marrying him to his niece. A champagne-fuelled love merry-go-round begins to spin, with an officer, the governor’s secretary, an entertainer and a young Hawaiian woman also jumping on board. The colourful company ends up in Europe, in sophisticated Monte Carlo, where four couples will get together.

Although the starting point is a political conflict, the creators were primarily concerned with entertainment. They catered to the need for exoticism and romance with aplomb, for the eyes and ears. On the one hand, people indulged in the dream of an idealised South Seas world, but at the same time hoped for a great future, for modernity from America.

Abraham, the “operetta king of Berlin”, a contemporary of Brecht and Weill, whose “Threepenny Opera” is also on the programme this season, had to flee the National Socialist regime two years after the premiere. In his composition he masterfully combines operetta melodies with elements of jazz, which made Berlin pulsate at the time.

Jürg Henneberger and the Ensemble Phoenix Basel, proven specialists in new music, set out together with the singing theatre ensemble in search of a “sound” that on the one hand purifies the lavishly orchestrated score and on the other resurrects the jazzy, playful spirit of the Weimar Republic. Experienced in uncovering the ironic facets of the operetta, director Frank Hilbrich is interested in showing how the unfulfilled longings for the past and future become a failure in the present.

Conductor, Fender Rhodes Piano: Jürg Henneberger
Staging: Frank Hilbrich
Musical sssistence, choir direction & assistant conductor (23./27.10./18.11.): Oliver Rudin
Stage: Volker Thiele
Costumes: Gabriele Rupprecht
Choreography: Kinsun Chan
Light: Roland Edrich
Dramaturgy: Almut Wagner

Laya, princess of Hawaii: Pia Händler
Prince Lilo-Taro: Florian Jahr
Kaluna, an old Hawaiian: Andrea Bettini
Captain Reginald Harald Stone: Elias Eilinghoff
Lloyd Harrison, american governor of Hawaii: Mario Fuchs
John Buffy, his secretary: Thomas Reisinger
Bessie Worthington, his niece: Katja Jung
Raka, a joung Hawaiian: Leonie Merlin Young
Jim Boy, a famous american jazz singer: Vincent Glander
Susanne Provence, his partner: Pia Händler
Perroquet, head waitor and bar pianist: Jürg Henneberger / Oliver Rudin

Choir:

Diana Chavarro (soprano)
Alexandra Mira Puertas (soprano)
Julia Schild (soprano)
Aya Tsujimoto (soprano)
Sylvia “Sylphe” Heckendorn (alto)
Francisca Näf (alto)
Anne Maria Schmid (alto)
Angelika Wied (alto)
Alejandro Benavides Urena (tenor)
Tarik Benchekmoumou (tenor)
Adrian Borter (tenor)
Donovan Elliot Smith (tenor)
Thomas Hardegger (bass)
Sebastian Knüsli (bass)
Daniel Raaflaub (bass)
Tianyou Wang (bass)

Ensemble Phoenix Basel:

Christoph Bösch, Anja Clift: flute / piccolo
Toshiko Sakakibara, Dana Barack: clarinet / bass clarinet
Sascha Armbruster, Pablo González: saxophone 1 (alto / baritone)
Kevin Juillerat, Jonas Tschanz: saxophone 2 (tenor)
Jens Bracher, Simon Lilly: trumpet 1
Michael Ferner: trumpet 2
Michael Büttler, Stephen Menotti: trombone
João Pacheco, Daniel Stalder: percussion
Maurizio Grandinetti: guitar / banjo / Hawaii-guitar
Ludovic Van Hellemont, Dominic Chamot: piano / celesta
Mirka Šćepanović, Friedemann Treiber: violin 1
Marzena Toczko, Filip Saffray: violin 2
Susanne Mathe, Daniel Hauptmann: violin 3
Lisa Rieder, Susanne Mathe: violin 4
Jan-Filip Ťupa, Joonas Pitkänen: cello
Aleksander Gabryś, Daniel Sailer: double bass