- Franz Lehár. Operette in three acts. 1905.
- Libretto by Victor Léon and Leo Stein, after the play L'attaché d'ambassade
(The Embassy Attaché) by Henri Meilhac.
- First performance at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, on 30th December 1905.
CHARACTERS
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| Baron Mirko Zeta, Pontevedrin ambassador in Paris | baritone |
| Valencienne, his wife | soprano |
| Count Danilo Danilowitsch, cavalry officer, legation secretary | tenor |
| Hanna Glawari, a rich widow | soprano |
| Camille de Rosillon | tenor |
| Vicomte Cascada | baritone |
| Raoul de St Brioche | baritone |
| Bogdanowitsch, Pontevedrin consul | baritone |
| Sylviane, his wife | soprano |
| Kromow, counsellor at the Pontevedrin legation | baritone |
| Olga, his wife | mezzo-soprano |
| Pritschitsch, retired Pontevedrin colonel | baritone |
| Praskowia, his wife | mezzo-soprano |
| Njegus, clerk at the legation | speaking part |
| Lolo, Dodo, Jou-Jou, Frou-Frou, Clo-Clo |
| Margot, girls from Maxim's | sopranos |
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Baron Mirko is anxious that the fortune left to the Pontevedrin widow Hanna Glawari by her
banker husband should not be lost to their country. He therefore tries to force Count Danilo to marry
her. Danilo resists the suggestion and there is, in any case, a rumour that she may marry the French
Camille de Rosillon, who is in fact conducting a flirtation with the Pontevedrin envoy's wife.
Hanna, whatever misunderstandings may take place, secretly loves Danilo, and he, in spite of his
scruples against fortune-hunters, loves her, a love realised as the operetta comes to an end.
Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) is probably the best known of all Lehÿr's operettas.
Danilo expresses his resistance to any infringement of his liberty as a bachelor in Paris in O
Vaterland (O fatherland), giving an outline of his busy day out of the office, with nights spent at
Maxim's. Hanna Glawari evokes the spirit of her country in her famous Vilja-Lied (There was once
a forest maiden). Camille woos Valencienne with Wie eine Rosenknospe (Like a rose-bud),
transferring his addresses to Hanna, when they have been spied by Baron Mirko. The difficulties
between Hanna and Danilo disappear in the third act waltz duet Lippen schweigen (Lips are silent).
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