The Merry Widow Libretto
Composer: Franz Lehár
Publisher: Glocken
Languages: English
Paperback: 102 pages
Dimensions: Width: 5.25", Length: 8.25"
 

The Merry Widow
Lehár’s captivating romantic comedy was the biggest success of the composer’s career and, along with Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, represents the most enduringly popular example of the operetta genre. Set in Paris, the story centers on Hanna Glawari, a fabulously wealthy young widow from a fictional Eastern European country and the attempts of its ambassador to find her a new husband in order to keep her fortune in the country and save it from bankruptcy. Mixed in with this are Hanna’s unexpected reunion with a former admirer and the flirtation of the ambassador’s wife with a young Frenchman. The plentiful opportunities for a wide range of romantic and humorous stage magic are obvious, particularly within the operetta format of musical numbers interspersed with spoken dialogue. Premiere: Theater an der Wien, Vienna, 1905.

Composer
Franz Lehár (1870–1948)

Setting
The Merry Widow takes place amid the vibrant artistic, diplomatic, and social worlds of Paris in the early 20th century and in the expatriate community of Pontevedro, a fictional Balkan country that bears some resemblance to Montenegro.