THE MERRY WIDOW Operetta in three acts by Franz Lehar
Opened in three acts by Franz Lehar
Libretto by Leo Stein and Victor Leon
Based on the eponymous work of Victor Leon, based on the comedy The Attaché of the Embassy (1861) by Henri Mayak
Conductor - IVAN KOZHUKHAROV
Director - DARINA GLAVANAKOVA-BAKARDJIEVA
Artist - EVGENIA RAEVA
Choreography and Plastics - NEDKO GEORGIEV
Concertmaster - JORDAN KOVACHEV
Prompter - DORA FURTUNOVA
Actors
Baron Zetta, Ambassador of the Republic of Pontevedro to Paris
Valenciennes, wife of Baron Zeta
Earl Danilo, First Counselor
Anna Glavari, a wealthy widow
Camille de Rossión
Viscount Cascade
Raoul de Saint-Brieuc
Cromon, counselor
Olga, his wife
Bogan, Colonel
Sylviana, his wife
Nikos, secretary
About the оperetta:
Merry Widow is one of the most famous operettas of the classic in the operetta genre - Franz Lehar. Like Johann Strauss - son, Lehar treats operettas not as a series of vocal numbers accompanied by an orchestra, but as a complex musical-theatrical form. In his article, "From the Workbench and the Workshop to the Merry Widow," Lehar says: "I cannot agree that the purpose of an operetta is anything but beautiful and sublime, to be ridiculous and fun. I will never become a music farce writer. My goal is to enrich the opera. The viewer must experience something, not just watch and listen to nonsense. " These notions sound like a creative manifesto to which this work has contributed a great deal.
Following the Vienna premiere and productions in Berlin and Hamburg, The Merry Widow continues its triumphant procession across Milan, London and Paris around the world to reach the 1925 film version of Eric von Stroheim in the production of Metro Goldwyn Meier with superstars John Gilbert and May Murray. Three more films have been made in her story - in 1934, 1952 and 1962.
To this day, The Merry Widow has a record number of performances everywhere. An interesting and little known fact is that it was Hitler's favorite operetta.
This is undoubtedly one of the pearls in the operetta genre, a mature, original work written by the hand of a master in the prime of life. Here they find a happy combination and expression of all the peculiarities of his talent: the pursuit of psychologism, melodic wealth, the creative response of modern times in the perspective of the operetta genre. The music of the operetta is exquisite, full of flaming feeling, restrained mystery, and extinguishing brilliance.
The events of The Merry Widow unfolded in the early twentieth century. The venue is the embassy of the fictional state of Pontevedra in Paris. An intrigue - a fight between the contenders for the hand of Anna Glavari and her legacy, which represents most of the state's gold reserve. The characters - the charming Anna and Danilo, Baron Zeta - are a stupid and arrogant worldly creature known for their hypocrisy and jealousy.
Anna and Danilo's love - disguised, darkened by Anna's insulted vanity and Danilo's fear that they might suspect him of self-interest; complicated also for political reasons - the fate of the whole country depends on its outcome ...
In The Merry Widow, librettists and composers ask a few questions that their characters brilliantly answer. Both Anna Glavari and Count Danilo are proud, bright characters, ready to step just a break, but not to let their material interest outpace their love. Count Danilo - one of the strongest portrayals in the operetta classic - does not want to be considered by his beloved woman to be another partisan. He prefers to give up his love, but not his honesty and pride. Pure female agility tells Anna how to act to challenge him to confess his love - by announcing publicly that if he marries he is left without money. Only then does Count Danilo ask for her hand. The merry widow has finally found the man who wants her, loves her, not her millions.
How will the match between love and self be resolved? ...
As Lope de Vega put it, "Nothing strengthens love like insurmountable obstacles" ...