A Little Night Music

An elegant musical in 3/4 time, A Little Night Music was one of the brightest entries in Broadway's 1973-74 season, a "dazzling tour de force, ambitiously conceived and richly creative," in the words of critic Rex Reed, writing at the time in Stereo Review.

Based on, or rather suggested by, Ingmar Bergman's 1955 frothy comedy of manners, Smiles Of A Summer Night, A Little Night Music, set in turn-of-the-century Sweden, delves into the tangle of affairs caused by a middle-aged lawyer, recently remarried to a volatile young woman (a girl his son's age), and the actress with whom he once had a fling. When they meet again for the first time after many years, their passion for each other is at once rekindled, even though the lawyer professes that his marriage is a success, and the actress is currently involved with a handsome, if possessive (and very much married) titled dragoon.

When it first opened on Broadway, on February 25, 1973, the show was roundly applauded for its sheer brilliance. Writing in the Sunday News, the week following its premiere, Douglas Watt noted: "A Little Night Music is exquisite - something special, remote, elegant."

Echoing these sentiments, Clive Barnes wrote in the New York Times, "A Little Night Music . . . is heady, civilized, sophisticated, and enchanting. It is Dom Perignon. It is supper at Lasserre. It is a mixture of Cole Porter, Gustav Mahler, Antony Tudor and just a little of Ingmar Bergman. And it is more fun than any tango in a Parisian suburb."

Or as Brendan Gill, in The New Yorker, simply stated it, "A Little Night Music comes close to being the perfect romantic musical comedy," adding that the gratifying success of the show was due in no small measure to the talents of Sondheim, whose "complex, witty, trenchant, questingly romantic score had utterly transformed the original story."

Also receiving their share of praises were the show's principals, Glynis Johns as Désirée (the actress), Len Cariou as Fredrik (the lawyer), Laurence Guittard as Carl-Magnus (the dragoon), Patricia Elliott as Charlotte (his wife), Victoria Mallory as Anne (Fredrik's young wife), and Hermione Gingold, as Désirée's mother, an almost Proustian grande dame, once favored by the King of the Belgians, who ruefully deplores, in one of the show's wittiest songs, the lack of class in today's liaisons.

On Broadway, the musical enjoyed a healthy run of 601 performances; on April 15, 1975, it opened in London, with Jean Simmons as Désirée and Joss Ackland as Egerman, for a run of 406 performances.

In 1978, it was brought to the screen in a somewhat misguided transfer in which Elizabeth Taylor starred as Désirée, and Diana Rigg portrayed Charlotte, with Len Cariou, Laurence Guittard and Hermione Gingold reprising the roles they had created on Broadway. For that version, Sondheim reconceived one of the songs from the score, The Glamorous Life, with a modified melody and different lyrics, for Fredrika, Désirée's daughter. The song (sung by Elaine Tomkinson for Chloe Franks, who played the role) has been added as a bonus track to this CD reissue of the original cast album.

Today, A Little Night Music continues to be remembered as a particularly glowing musical in the Sondheim canon, a stylish celebration of romantic love, and a fairy tale for adults, set in fin de siècle Sweden, inhabited by ordinary people whose most pressing problems revolve around affairs of the heart.

Following is a synopsis of the play, as proposed in the original liner notes by William Evans:

One by one, a Quintet (Benjamin Rayson, Teri Ralston, Barbara Lang, Gene Varrone, Beth Fowler) gathers in front of the curtain, blending their voices in song - Overture.

As the curtain rises, elegantly dressed couples dance through a sylvan setting (Night Waltz), presaging the romantic flirtations and frustrations to come.

The waltzers exit, and the aging Madame Armfeldt (Hermione Gingold), a woman who has numbered kings among her lovers, alerts her granddaughter Fredrika (Judy Kahan) to watch for the summer night to smile. "It smiles three times," she says, "first, for the young, who know nothing; second, for the fools, who know too little; and, third, for the old, who know too much."

Attention shifts to the home of Fredrik Egerman (Len Cariou), a widowed lawyer who has recently married Anne, a young girl of eighteen (Victoria Mallory), Fredrik's son by a previous marriage, Henrik (Mark Lambert) is a somber twenty-year-old divinity student who plays the cello in moments of stress. Fredrik arrives with tickets for the theater: he is taking Anne (still a virgin after eleven months of marriage) to see "the one and only" Désirée Armfeldt. As he prepares for his afternoon nap, and Anne chatters away, Fredrik muses on some of the problems encountered in his new marriage - Now. In the parlor, son Henrik is being flirted with by the less-than-virginal maid, Petra (D. Jamin-Bartlett). He clumsily tries to unbutton her blouse. Petra, merely amused, tells him, as she leaves the room, "Later. You'll soon get the knack of it." Frustrated, as usual, Henrik grabs his cello - Later.

Back in the bedroom, Anne promises Fredrik to become his bride in deed, as well as in fact - Soon. Henrik continues complaining - Later. Fredrik, still asleep and obviously enjoying some vivid dream (Now), utters a heartfelt "Désirée." Anne stares at him, startled.

Désirée Armfeldt (Glynis Johns), the beguiling actress who was once Fredrik's mistress, enters her dressing room at the theater, ironically extolling the joys of life on the road (The Glamorous Life), with comments by the Quintet and her disapproving mother, Madame Armfeldt.

Fredrik and Anne arrive at the theater that evening, Anne clearly suspicious after Fredrik's naptime slip of the tongue. Désirée makes her entrance, and spots Fredrik immediately. The Quintet comments on romantic recollections - Remember?. Désirée plays directly to Fredrik, upsetting Anne so much she rushes out of the theater. Fredrik takes his wife home and puts her to bed, while he goes "out for a breath of fresh air." Naturally, his stroll takes him directly to Désirée's rooms, to meet her for the first time in fourteen years. Désirée welcomes him warmly and lends a not-quite-sympathetic ear to Fredrik's praise of Anne - You Must Meet My Wife. He tries to revive their relationship, and Désirée happily accepts with, "Of course, darling, what are old friends for?" Off they go to the bedroom. Madame Armfeldt, the grande dame of a more refined era, who has been "tidy enough to acquire a sizable mansion," emerges from the theatrical shadows to lament the current lack of delicacy in the art of love - Liaisons.

Fredrik and Désirée are disturbed by the unexpected arrival of Désirée's current lover, a wildly jealous dragoon named Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm (Laurence Guittard). Fredrik and Désirée quickly concoct a feeble story about legal papers and falling into a hip bath, to assure the Count that the situation is quite innocent. The Count sends Fredrik on his way in a nightshirt, and tries to assess the situation - In Praise Of Women.

In the morning, the Count returns to his long-suffering wife, Charlotte (Patricia Elliott), suggesting that she might enlighten Anne about her husband's late-night activities. Charlotte promptly goes to inform Anne of Fredrik's infidelity and to commiserate with her about their mutual matrimonial problems - Every Day A Little Death.

Désirée goes to the country to visit her mother and daughter, and to arrange for her mother to invite lawyer Egerman and his family out for the weekend, hoping to snare Fredrik back to herself. The invitation is sent, and Anne, after consulting with Charlotte, decides to accept. The Count, hearing of the weekend, decides that he and Charlotte should also make an appearance, uninvited - A Weekend In The Country.

When all the guests, invited and uninvited, have arrived at Madame Armfeldt's splendid château, the Quintet announces the end of the day (Night Waltz I - The Sun Won't Set), then sets the tone for the magical white night (Night Waltz II - The Sun Sits Low), and Fredrik and the Count contemplate how things might have turned out differently with Désirée - It Would Have Been Wonderful.

As the guests assemble for the candlelight feast in the formal dining room, the Quintet drifts in and out - Perpetual Anticipation. The dinner turns into a verbal sparring session, and ends with a furiously upset Henrik smashing his goblet in disgust and running from the room. The other guests scatter throughout the estate.

Fredrik makes his way to Désirée's bedroom, where she reveals her true reason for inviting him - her hope that they might be able to revive their love permanently. But Fredrik, unable to give up his child bride, walks out, leaving Désirée alone - Send In The Clowns.

Meanwhile, Anne and Fredrika scour the grounds for Henrik. Anne finally finds him as he is suicidally rigging up a noose. Realizing that it is Henrik she loves, not "poor old Fredrik," Anne decides to run off with him,

Petra, the maid, having made love with Madame Armfeldt's butler, Frid (George Lee Andrews), expresses her sense of romance in terms of the practical and real - The Miller's Son.

Fredrik finds himself being consoled by Charlotte about the loss of his son and wife. The Count spots Fredrik and Charlotte embracing. He storms out of the house to challenge Fredrik to a game of Russian roulette. They go off to the summer pavilion, a shot is heard, and the Count returns with Fredrik slung over his shoulder. Fredrik has "merely grazed his ear." The Count orders Charlotte to pack their bags. At last, Désirée and Fredrik realize that they are meant to be together - Send In The Clowns (Reprise).

The comedy ended, Madame Armfeldt tells her granddaughter that the night has already smiled twice, once for the young and once for the fools. "The smile for the fools was particularly broad tonight," To the accompaniment of the Night Waltz, the lover's dance through the silver birches as the night smiles down for the third and final time - Finale.

Writing about the recording, Rex Reed commented: "Like the arcane games and puzzles Sondheim reportedly collects as a hobby, his songs are not made up of mere surfaces, their inner workings as exposed as the contents of an open-faced sandwich. They are rather like fine watches, and just as functional. They often literally take the place of dramatic scenes, with the dialogue being sung instead of spoken. And to serve the needs of drama, they need to take many forms. The score of Night Music, for example, contains patter songs, contrapuntal duets and trios, a quartet, and even a dramatic double quintet to puzzle through. All this has been gorgeously orchestrated by Jonathan Tunick; there is no rhythm section, only strings and woodwinds to carry the melodies and harmonies aloft. The total effect is consistently vocal, consistently dramatic. Even when the music is least hummable - hummability isn't everything - your attention is held, waiting to pounce on the clue that will lead you into the meaning of the next song. . . ."

- Didier C. Deutsch