节目

Lehár, Franz:
Die lustige Witwe

The first and most significant work of operetta’s silver era is once again on the program of Europe’s leading operetta house from June 2005. Franz Lehár’s immortal masterpiece began its triumphant progress around the world in Austria’s Danube metropolis with the 1905 world premiere of “The Merry Widow”.

It is surprising therefore that the first performance of “The Merry Widow” at the Volksoper took place only in 1953; since then, however, this operetta has been performed 750 times in five different productions and belongs to the core repertoire of the house. Well-known singers have performed the role of the “Merry Widow” over the decades; Esther Rethy, Mirjana Irosch, Sigrid Martikke, Elisabeth Kales, Lucia Popp and Sonja Mottl have all sparkled in the role of Hanna Glawari, and leading lights such as Rudolf Schock, Johannes Heesters, Fred Liewehr, Eberhard Waechter, Peter Minich and Bo Skovhus include the charming Count Danilo among their best roles at the Volksoper. Numerous guest performances over the years--in Japan, the USA and Europe--would have been inconceivable without "The Merry Widow”.

In 1905: the originality of this operetta lies in the open eroticism of the action and the sensuousness of the music, such as that expressed by "lips are silent, violins whisper, love me...” The story is about a recently widowed millionnairess who must find herself a husband for ‘reasons of state’. The fact that the prospective husband turns out to be the fun-loving Danilo (“Then I’m off to Maxim’s”) doesn’t make the task of the Pontevidrinian diplomats any easier.

With "The Merry Widow” Franz Lehár revealed his unique personal style. Like no other operetta composer thus far he successfully wove together music and action. In response to the criticism that his operettas were too operatic, tragic and sentimental, he answered: “I cannot understand why it should be the aim of operetta to turn all that which is beautiful and sublime into the ridiculous and laughable. My purpose is to refine operetta!”

The fact that this statement is still relevant today should guarantee the success of French director Daniel Dollé’s new staging of the "The Merry Widow“--set in a sensually intoxicating fin de siecle ambience. With Noemi Nadelmann (Zurich Opera) as Hanna Glawari and Morten Frank Larsen as Danilo, Lehár’s operetta has an attractive and talented pair in the leading roles. Leopold Hager, the Volksoper’s new Principal Conductor from 2005/06 season, will conduct.