The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow(German:Die lustige Witwe[diːˈlʊstɪɡəˈvɪtvə]) is anoperettaby theAustro-HungariancomposerFranz Lehár. Thelibrettists,Viktor LéonandLeo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,L'attaché d'ambassade(The Embassy Attaché) byHenri Meilhac.
The operetta has enjoyed extraordinary international success since its 1905 premiere in Vienna and continues to be frequently revived and recorded. Film and other adaptations have also been made. Well-known music from the score includes the "ViljaSong", "Da geh' ich zuMaxim" ("You'll Find Me at Maxim's"), and the "Merry Widow Waltz".
In 1861,Henri Meilhacpremiered a comic play in Paris,L'attaché d'ambassade(The Embassy Attaché), in which the Parisian ambassador of a poor Germangrand duchy, Baron Scharpf, schemes to arrange a marriage between his country's richest widow (a French woman) and aCountto keep her money at home, thus preventing economic disaster in the duchy. The play was soon adapted into German asDer Gesandschafts-Attaché(1862) and was given several successful productions. In early 1905, Viennese librettistLeo Steincame across the play and thought it would make a good operetta. He suggested this to one of his writing collaborators,Viktor Léonand to the manager of theTheater an der Wien, who was eager to produce the piece. The two adapted the play as a libretto and updated the setting to contemporary Paris, expanding the plot to reference an earlier relationship between the widow (this time a countrywoman) and the Count, and moving the native land from a dour German province to a colourful littleBalkanstate. In addition, the widow admits to an affair to protect the Baron's wife, and the Count's haven is changed to the Parisian restaurant and nightclubMaxim's. They askedRichard Heubergerto compose the music, as he had a previous hit at the Theater an der Wien with a Parisian-themed piece,Der Opernball(1898). He composed a draft of the score, but it was unsatisfactory, and he gladly left the project.
The theatre's staff next suggested thatFranz Lehármight compose the piece. Lehár had worked with Léon and Stein onDer Göttergattethe previous year. Although Léon doubted that Lehár could invoke an authentic Parisian atmosphere, he was soon enchanted by Lehar's first number for the piece, a bubblygalopmelody for "Dummer, dummer Reitersmann". The score ofDie Lustige Witwewas finished in a matter of months. The theatre engagedMizzi GüntherandLouis Treumannfor the leading roles. They had starred as the romantic couple in other operettas in Vienna, including a production ofDer Opernballand a previous Léon and Lehár success,Der Rastelbinder(1902). Both stars were so enthusiastic about the piece that they supplemented the theatre's low-budget production by paying for their own lavish costumes. During the rehearsal period, the theatre lost faith in the score and asked Lehár to withdraw it, but he refused.The piece was given little rehearsal time on stage before its premiere.
Die Lustige Witwewas first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 30 December 1905, with Günther as Hanna, Treumann as Danilo, Siegmund Natzler as Baron Zeta and Annie Wünsch as Valencienne. After a couple of shaky weeks at the box-office, it became a major success, receiving good reviews and running for 483 performances.The production also toured in Austria in 1906.
The operetta originally had no overture; Lehár wrote one for the 400th performance, but it is rarely used in productions of the operetta, as the original short introduction is preferred.TheVienna Philharmonicperformed the overture at Lehár's 70th birthday concert in April 1940.
The embassy in Paris of the poverty-stricken Balkan principality of Pontevedro is holding a ball to celebrate the birthday of the sovereign, theGrand Duke. Hanna Glawari, who has inherited twenty million francs from her late husband, is to be a guest at the ball – and the Pontevedrin ambassador, Baron Zeta, is scheming to ensure that she will keep her fortune in the country, saving Pontevedro from bankruptcy. The Baron intends that Count Danilo Danilovitsch, thefirst secretaryof the embassy, should marry the widow; unfortunately for this plan, Danilo is not at the party, so Zeta sends Danilo's assistant Njegus to fetch him fromMaxim's.
Danilo arrives and meets Hanna. It emerges they were in love before her marriage, but his uncle had interrupted their romance because Hanna had had nothing to her name. Though they still love each other, Danilo now refuses to court Hanna for her fortune, and Hanna vows that she will not marry him until he says "I love you" – something he claims he will never do.
Meanwhile, Baron Zeta's wife Valencienne has been flirting with the French attaché to the embassy, Count Camille de Rosillon, who writes "I love you" on her fan. Valencienne puts off Camille's advances, saying that she is a respectable wife. However, they lose the incriminating fan, which is found by embassy counsellor Kromow. Kromow jealously fears that the fan belongs to his own wife, Olga, and gives it to Baron Zeta. Not recognising it, Baron Zeta decides to return the fan discreetly, in spite of Valencienne's desperate offers to take it "to Olga" herself.
On his way to find Olga, the Baron meets Danilo, and his diplomatic mission takes precedence over the fan. The Baron orders Danilo to marry Hanna. Danilo refuses, but offers to eliminate any non-Pontevedrin suitors as a compromise.
As the "Ladies' Choice" dance is about to begin, Hanna becomes swarmed with hopeful suitors. Valencienne volunteers Camille to dance with Hanna, privately hoping that the Frenchman will marry her and cease to be a temptation for Valencienne herself. True to his bargain with the Baron, Danilo circulates the ballroom, rounding up ladies to claim dances and thin the crowd around the wealthy widow. Hanna, however, chooses the one man who is not apparently interested in dancing with her: Danilo, who immediately announces that he will sell his dance with Hanna Glawari for ten thousand francs, with the proceeds to benefit charity. This extinguishes the remaining suitors' interest in the dance. After they have left, Danilo attempts to dance with Hanna, who refuses in annoyance. Nonchalantly he proceeds to waltz by himself, eventually wearing down Hanna's resistance, and she falls into his arms.
The next evening, everyone is dressed in Pontevedrin clothing for a garden party at Hanna's house, now celebrating the Grand Duke's birthday in his own country's fashion. Hanna entertains by singing an old Pontevedrin song: "Es lebt' eineVilja, ein Waldmägdelein" ("There lived a Vilja, a maid of the woods"). Meanwhile, Baron Zeta fears that Camille will spoil his plan for Hanna to marry a Pontevedrin. Still not recognising the fan as Valencienne's, the Baron orders Danilo to discover the identity of its owner, whom he correctly assumes to be Camille's married lover. The two men, along with Njegus, arrange to meet that evening in Hanna's gardenpavilionto discuss Danilo's findings, as well as the problem of securing the widow's fortune for Pontevedro. Seeing the fan, Hanna takes the message on it to be Danilo's declaration of love for her, which he denies. His inquiries regarding the fan prove fruitless, but do reveal infidelities committed by some of the wives of embassy personnel.
That evening, Camille and Valencienne meet in the garden, where Valencienne insists that they must part. Discovering the fan, accidentally left behind by Danilo, Camille begs Valencienne to let him have it as akeepsake. Valencienne agrees, writing "I'm a respectable wife" on it as a rejoinder to Camille's "I love you." Camille persuades Valencienne to join him in the pavilion so that they can say their goodbyes in private. This is of course the same pavilion where Danilo, the Baron, and Njegus have agreed to meet, and the latter, arriving first, locks the door when he spots people inside. Baron Zeta and Danilo follow, but Njegus quickly arranges with Hanna to change places with Valencienne. Camille emerges from the pavilion with Hanna, who announces that they plan to marry, leaving the Baron distraught at the thought of Pontevedro losing Hanna's millions and Valencienne distraught at losing Camille. Danilo is furious, and tells the story of a Princess who cheated on her Prince ("Es waren zwei Königskinder)" before storming off to seek distraction at Maxim's. Hanna realises that Danilo's anger over her engagement to another man proves that he loves her, and she rejoices amid the general despair.
Act 3 is set at a theme party in Hanna's ballroom, which she has decorated to look like Maxim's, complete with Maxim'sgrisettes(can-candancers). Valencienne, who has dressed herself as a grisette, entertains the guests ("Ja, wir sind es, die Grisetten"). When Danilo arrives, having found the real Maxim's empty, he tells Hanna to give up Camille for the sake of Pontevedro. Much to Danilo's delight, Hanna replies truthfully that she was never engaged to Camille but was protecting the reputation of a married woman. Danilo comes very close to declaring his love for Hanna, but stops himself from doing so when he remembers her money and his proud refusal to court her for it. Njegus produces the fan, which he picked up earlier, and Baron Zeta finally remembers that it belongs to Valencienne. He swears to divorce his wife and marry the widow himself, but Hanna stops him by declaring that she will lose her fortune if she remarries. At this, Danilo promptly confesses his love for her and asks Hanna to marry him. Hanna triumphantly accepts, adding that she will lose her fortune only because it will become the property of her new husband. Valencienne assures Baron Zeta of her fidelity by pointing out her reply to Camille's declaration of love written on the fan: "Ich bin eine anständige Frau" ("I'm a respectable wife"). All ends happily.
The operetta was produced in 1906 inHamburg's Neues Operetten-Theater, Berlin'sBerliner Theater[de]with Max Monti's company before Monti moved the production to theTheater des Westens(Gustav Matzner as Danilo and Marie Ottmann as Hanna starred and, with the Berlin cast in 1907, made the work's first complete recording, including dialogue, forDeutsche Grammophon), and Budapest'sMagyar Színházin a faithful Hungarian translation. The piece became an international sensation, and translations were quickly made into various languages: in 1907, Buenos Aires theatres were playing at least five productions, each in a different language. Productions also swiftly followed in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Milan, Moscow and Madrid, among other places. It was eventually produced in every city with a theatre industry.Bernard Grün, in his bookGold and Silver: The Life and Times of Franz Lehar, estimates thatThe Merry Widowwas performed about half a million times in its first sixty years.Global sheet music sales and recordings totalled tens of millions of dollars. Its popularity influenced fashionsand inspired merchandising and product tie-ins, from corsets to chocolates.According to theatre writerJohn Kenrick, no other play or musical up to the 1960s had enjoyed such international commercial success.
In its English adaptation byBasil Hood, with lyrics byAdrian Ross,The Merry Widowbecame a sensation atDaly's Theatrein London, opening on 8 June 1907, starringLily ElsieandJoseph Coyneand featuringGeorge Gravesas the Baron,Robert Evettas Camille andW. H. Berryas Nisch, with costumes byLucileandPercy Anderson.Gabrielle Raywas a replacement as the Maxim's dancerFrou-Frou.It was produced byGeorge Edwardes. The production ran for an extraordinary 778 performances in London and toured extensively in Great Britain.
The adaptation renamed many of the characters, to avoid offense toMontenegro, where the royal family's surname was Njegus, the crown prince was named Danilo, andZetawas the principal founding state. Hood changed the name of the principality to Marsovia, Danilo is promoted to the title of Prince, Hannah is Sonia, the Baron is Popoff, Njegus is Nisch, Camille's surname is de Jolidon and Valencienne is Natalie, among other changes.The final scene was relocated into Maxim's itself, rather than the original theme-party setting, to take further advantage of the fame of the nightclub. Graves ad-libbed extensive "business" in the role of the Baron. Edwardes engaged Lehár to write two new songs, one of which, "Quite Parisien" (a third act solo for Nisch) is still used in some productions.Lehár also made changes for a Berlin production in the 1920s, but the definitive version of the score is basically that of the original production.
The first American production opened on 21 October 1907 at theNew Amsterdam TheatreonBroadwayfor another very successful run of 416 performances, and was reproduced by multiple touring companies across the US, all using the Hood/Ross libretto. It was produced byHenry Wilson Savage. The New York cast starredEthel Jacksonas Sonia andDonald Brianas Danilo. The operetta first played in Australia in 1908 using the Hood/Ross libretto. Since then, it has been staged frequently in English. It was revived in London'sWest Endin 1923, running for 239 performances, and in 1924 and 1932. A 1943 revival ran for 302 performances. Most of these productions featured Graves as Popoff.Madge ElliottandCyril Ritchardstarred in the 1944 production, whileJune BronhillandThomas Roundled the 1958 cast and recording.Lizbeth WebbandJohn Rhys Evansstarred in a brief 1969 revival.Revivals were mounted in major New York theatres in 1921, 1929, 1931 and 1943–1944. The last of these starredMarta Eggerthand her husbandJan Kiepura, with sets byHoward Bayand choreography byGeorge Balanchine. It ran for 322 performances at theMajestic Theatreand returned the next season at theNew York City Centerfor another 32 performances.
Glocken Verlag Ltd, London, published two different English translation editions in 1958. One English-language libretto is byPhil Park, which was adapted and arranged byRonald Hanmer. The other is byChristopher Hassall, based on the edition by Ludwig Doblinger, Vienna. The Park version is awhole-tonelower than the original. Danilo and Hanna's hummed waltz theme becomes a chorus number, and the ending of the "Rosebud Romance" is sung mostly in unison rather than as a conversation. In the Hassall version, the action of act 3 takes place at Maxim's. Valencienne and the other Embassy wives arrive to seek out Danilo and convince him to return to Hanna, closely followed by their husbands, seeking to achieve the same purpose. The Grisettes, Parisian cabaret girls, make a grand entrance, led by the voluptuous ZoZo. Zeta finds the brokenhearted Danilo, and as they argue, Hanna enters. Hanna, Danilo and Zeta separately bribe the Maitre'd to clear the room so Hanna and Danilo can be alone. Danilo sets aside his pride and asks Hanna to give up Camille for the sake of the country. Much to Danilo's delight, Hanna tells him that she was never engaged to Camille, but that she was protecting the reputation of a married woman. Danilo is ready to declare his love for Hanna, and is on the point of doing so when he remembers her money, and stops himself. When Njegus produces the fan, which he had picked up earlier, Baron Zeta suddenly realizes that the fan belongs to Valencienne. Baron Zeta swears to divorce his wife and marry the widow himself, but Hanna tells him that she loses her fortune if she remarries. Hearing this, Danilo confesses his love for her and asks Hanna to marry him, and Hanna triumphantly points out that she will lose her fortune only because it will become the property of her husband. Valencienne produces the fan and assures Baron Zeta of her fidelity by reading out what she had replied to Camille's declaration: "I'm a highly respectable wife".
In the 1970s, theLight Opera of Manhattan, a year-round professionallight operarepertory company in New York City, commissioned Alice Hammerstein Mathias, the daughter ofOscar Hammerstein II, to create a new English adaptation, which was revived many times until the company closed at the end of the 1980s.Essgee Entertainmentstaged productions ofThe Merry Widowin capital cities around Australia during 1998 and 1999. A prologue was added featuring a narrative byJon Englishand a ballet introducing the earlier romance of Anna and Danilo. The production opened inBrisbane, withJeffrey Blackas Danilo,Helen Donaldsonas "Anna",Simon Gallaheras Camille and English as Baron Zeta. In some performances, during the production's Brisbane run,Jason Barry-Smithappeared as Danilo. InMelbourne, Sydney andAdelaidein 1999,John O'Mayappeared as Danilo,Marina Prioras "Hanna",Max Gilliesas Zeta, Gallaher as Camille and Donaldson as Valencienne.
Numerous opera companies have mounted the operetta.New York City Operamounted several productions from the 1950s through the 1990s, including a lavish 1977 production starringBeverly SillsandAlan Tituswith a new translation bySheldon Harnick. AnAustralian Operaproduction starredJoan Sutherland, andPBSbroadcast a production by theSan Francisco Operain 2002, among numerous other broadcasts.TheMetropolitan Operahad mounted the opera 18 times by 2003.The first performance byThe Royal Operain London was in 1997.
The first production in Paris was at the Théâtre Apollo on 28 April 1909 asLa Veuve joyeuse. Although Parisians were worried about how their city would be portrayed in the operetta, the Paris production was well received and ran for 186 performances. In this translation, Hanna is an American raised in "Marsovie" named "Missia". Danilo was a prince with gambling debts. The third act was set in Maxim's. The following year, the operetta played inBrussels.
The Merry Widowis frequently revived in Vienna and is part of the Vienna Volksopera's repertory. The Volksopera released a complete live performance on CD, interpolating the "Can-Can" from Offenbach'sOrpheus in the Underworld, which was copied in many other productions worldwide.Best known as Danilo in the German version was the actorJohannes Heesters, who played the part thousands of times for over thirty years.
The operetta has also been translated into Italian (asLa Vedova Allegra).
The operetta has been recorded both live and in the studio many times, and several video recordings have been made.In 1906, the original Hanna and Danilo, Mizzi Günther and Louis Treumann, recorded their arias and duets, and also some numbers written for Camille and Valencienne; CD transfers were made in 2005.The first recording of a substantially complete version of the score was made of the Berlin 1907 production, with Ottmann and Matzner in their lead roles andBruno Seidler-Winklerconducting the "Grammophon Streich-Orchester"; it includes a considerable amount of the operetta's dialogue.After that, excerpts appeared periodically on disc, but no new full recording was issued until 1950, whenColumbia Recordsreleased a set sung in English withDorothy KirstenandRobert Rounseville.
In 1953,EMI'sColumbialabel released a near-complete versionproduced byWalter Legge, conducted byOtto Ackermann, withElisabeth Schwarzkopfas Hanna,Erich Kunzas Danilo,Nicolai Geddaas Camille andEmmy Looseas Valencienne. It was sung in German, with abridged spoken dialogue.Loose sang Valencienne again forDeccain the firststereophonicrecording, produced in 1958 byJohn Culshaw, withHilde Gueden,Per GrundénandWaldemar Kmenttin the other main roles, and theVienna Philharmonicconducted byRobert Stolz.A second recording with Schwarzkopf as Hanna was issued by Columbia in 1963; the other main roles were sung byEberhard Wächter, Gedda and Hanny Steffek.This set, conducted byLovro von Matačić, has been reissued on CD in EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series.Among later complete or substantially complete sets are those conducted byHerbert von KarajanwithElizabeth Harwoodas Hanna (1972);Franz Welser-MöstwithFelicity Lott(1993); andJohn Eliot GardinerwithCheryl Studer(1994).
The Ackermann recording received the highest available rating in the 1956The Record Guideand the later EMI set under Matačić is highly rated by the 2008The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music,butAlan Blythin hisOpera on CDregrets the casting of a baritone as Danilo in both sets and prefers the 1958 Decca version.Among the filmed productions on DVD, the Penguin Guide recommends the one from theSan Francisco Opera, recorded live in 2001, conducted byErich Kunzeland directed byLotfi Mansouri, withYvonne Kennyas Hanna andBo Skovhusas Danilo.
With the permission of the Franz Lehár Estate,Sir Robert Helpmannadapted the operetta's plotscenario, whileJohn LanchberyandAlan Abbotadapted the operetta's music and composed additional music, for a three-act ballet.The Merry Widowballet, choreographed byRonald Hyndwith designs byDesmond Heeley, was first performed on 13 November 1975 at thePalais Theatre, Melbourne, byThe Australian Ballet.The ballet has been performed byAmerican Ballet Theatre, among other major companies.
In 1909, a novelization of the 1907 American adaptation ofThe Merry Widowwas published anonymously.
Various films have been made that are based loosely on the plot of the operetta: