Program

Franz Lehár, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)

Act I

I: Introduction - "Verehrteste Damen und Herren"

I: "So kommen Sie!...Ich bin eine anständ'ge Frau"

I: "Bitte, meine Herr'n...Gar oft hab' ich's gehört"

I: "O Vaterland...Da geh' ich zu Maxim"

I: "Damenwahl!"

Act II

II: Intoduction

II: "Heia, Mädel, aufgeschaut...Dummer, dummer Reitersmann"

II: "Wie die Weiber man behandelt? - Ja, das Studium der Weiber ist schwer"

II: "Mein Freund, Vernunft - Wie eine Rosenknospe im Maienlicht erblüht"

Act III

II: "Ha! Ha! Wir fragen, was man von uns will? - Den Herrschaften hab' ich was zu erzählen"

III: "Ja, wir sind es, die Grisetten"

III: "Lippen schweigen"

III: "Ja, das Studium der Weiber ist schwer"

The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár

Cal McCrystal (stage director), John Wilson (conductor) — With Danielle de Niese (Hanna Glawari), Germán Olvera (Count Danilo Danilovitsch), Thomas Allen (Baron Mirko Zeta) ...

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Cast

Cal McCrystal — Stage director

Gary McCann — Designer

Carrie-Anne Ingrouillé — Choreographer

Ben Cracknell — Lighting designer

Jonathan Moss — Sound Designer

Max White — Video designer

Alex Otterburn — Victomte Cascada

Thomas Allen — Baron Mirko Zeta

Program notes

Get dressed to the nines and join us for a glamorous soirée at the 2024 Glyndebourne Festival with Cal McCrystal’s sparkling staging of Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow!

In 1905 Paris, the embassy of the poverty-stricken Pontevedro is hosting a ball where the Pontevedrian ambassadors have one crucial goal: win over the wealthy widow Hanna Glawari (Danielle de Niese) in order to keep her fortune in their country and save them from financial ruin. The favorite among her potential suitors is Danilo Danilovitsch (Germán Olvera), but his history with Hanna makes matters complicated… A tale full of delightful twists and turns, The Merry Widow is Austro-Hungarian composer Lehár’s most famous operetta, adored for its flamboyant dance numbers. Irish stage director McCrystal’s production — using the English-language libretto written by Stephen Plaice and Marcia Bellamy — takes its inspiration both from the glitz and glamor of Golden Age Hollywood and the bold theatrics of London’s West End.

A closer look: featured composers

Franz Lehár