The Merry Widow ( ) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo 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, (The Embassy Attaché) by Henri 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. Famous standards from the score include the "Vilja Song", "" ("You'll Find Me at Maxim's"), and the "Merry Widow Waltz" (lyricized as "Lippen schweigen", or "Lips are silent").
Background
In 1861, Henri Meilhac premiered a comic play in Paris, (The Embassy Attaché), in which the Parisian ambassador of a poor German grand duchy, Baron Scharpf, schemes to arrange a marriage between his country's richest widow (a French woman) and a Count to keep her money at home, thus preventing economic disaster in the duchy. The play was soon adapted into German as Der Gesandschafts-Attaché (1862) and was given several successful productions.Kenrick, John. "The Merry Widow 101: History of a Hit", Musicals101.com, 2004. Retrieved 24 January 2016
In early 1905, Viennese librettist Leo Stein came across the play and thought it would make a good operetta. He suggested this to one of his writing collaborators, Viktor Léon, and to the manager of the Theater an der Wien, who was eager to produce the operetta. The two adapted the 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. They moved the native land from a dour German province to a colourful little Balkan state, had the widow admit to an affair to protect the Baron's wife, and changed the Count's haven to the Parisian restaurant and nightclub Maxim's.
They asked Richard Heuberger to compose the music, as he had produced a previous Parisian-themed work at the Theater an der Wien, 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 that Franz Lehár might compose the piece. Lehár had worked with Léon and Stein on Der Göttergatte the previous year and began work on The Merry Widow immediately in 1905. He worked over the summer at Bad Ischl, including at the Rosenstöckl (Rose Cottage), where Meyerbeer composed the opera Le prophète.
Léon doubted Lehár could create an authentic Parisian atmosphere but was enchanted by the bubbly galop melody for "Dummer, dummer Reitersmann", the operetta's first number, which Lehár played for him by telephone. That July, after Lehár played the completed musical numbers, Léon requested some changes to the text and music, finding the waltzes derivative. Lehár later claimed that he had changed little, but Léon's letter likely influenced him: in August, he sketched the act 1 finale waltz ("Ballsirenen", or "Sirens of the ball") and the more famous slow waltz, sometimes called "the Merry Widow waltz", which at first had no text but was later adapted as the celebrated waltz–duet "Lippen schweigen", or "Lips are silent".
Roles and premiere cast
+RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 30 December 1905Conductor: Franz LehárHanna Glawari, a wealthy widow (title role)sopranoMizzi GüntherCount Danilo Danilovitsch, First Secretary of the Pontevedrin embassy and Hanna's former lovertenor or lyric baritoneLouis TreumannBaron Mirko Zeta, the AmbassadorbaritoneValencienne, Baron Zeta's wifesopranoAnnie WünschCamille, Count de Rosillon, French attaché to the embassy, the Baroness's admirertenorKarl MeisterNjegus, the Embassy SecretaryspokenOskar SachsKromow, Pontevedrin embassy counsellorbaritoneHeinrich PirlBogdanovitch, Pontevedrin consulbaritoneFritz AlbinSylviane, Bogdanovitch's wifesopranoBertha ZieglerRaoul de St Brioche, French diplomattenorCarlo BöhmVicomte Cascada, Latin diplomatbaritoneLeo von KellerOlga, Kromow's wifemezzo-sopranoMinna SchützPritschitsch, Embassy consulbaritoneJulius BramerPraskowia, Pritschitsch's wifemezzo-sopranoLili WistaParisians and Pontevedrins, musicians and servants
Synopsis The operetta originally had no overture. Lehár wrote one for the 400th performance, and though the Vienna Philharmonic performed it at his 70th birthday concert in April 1940,Göran Forsling, review of Naxos reissue of 1953 Ackermann recording of the operetta, it is rarely used in productions of the operetta, as the original short introduction is preferred by most musical directors. Lehár made changes for a Berlin production in the 1920s, but the definitive version of the score is generally that of the original production.
Act 1 The embassy in Paris of the poverty-stricken Balkan principality of Pontevedro is holding a ball to celebrate the birthday of the sovereign, the Grand 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, the first secretary of 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 from Maxim'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.
Act 2 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: "" ("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 garden pavilion to 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 a keepsake. 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 (")" 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 Act 3 is set at a theme party in Hanna's ballroom, which she has decorated to look like Maxim's, complete with Maxim's grisettes (can-can dancers). Valencienne, who has dressed herself as a grisette, entertains the guests (""). 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: "" ("I'm a respectable wife"). All ends happily.
Reception The Merry Widow became one of Europe's most performed operettas internationally, alongside Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld and Strauss's Die Fledermaus. It was performed maybe half a million times in its first sixty years, generating substantial sales through sheet music and recordings. Its extraordinary popularity, perhaps unmatched by any other play or musical until the 1960s,Kenrick, John. "The Merry Widow 101 – History of a Hit: Part II", Musicals101.com, 2004, accessed 28 July 2011 spawned fashions,Kantor, Michael and Laurence Maslow. "Broadway: The American Musical", New York: Bulfinch Press (2004), p. 43 merchandise, and product tie-ins, from corsets to chocolates."An Introduction to The Merry Widow: It was the first show to sell merchandise", English National Opera, accessed 15 December 2021 Lehár became one of the most frequently performed composers of his era.