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Beautiful melodies, lavish costumes and unbelievable love plots. Now, that’s opera! The Florentine Opera will be performing an English translation of Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow) by Franz Lehar November 16, 17 & 18 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The opera, first performed in 1905, is based on the play, L’Attache d’Ambassade by Henri Meilhac.
In a nutshell: Baron Mirko Zeta, the Pontevedrian ambassador in Paris orders his secretary, Danilo, to marry Hanna Glawari, a very rich Pontevedrian widow, in order to keep her late husband’s fortune in the financially ailing country. Hanna and Danilo were once in love but Danilo’s uncle interrupted their romance because she didn’t have a cent to her name. Still in love with Hanna, Danilo refuses to court her because it would appear that it was only for her money. Meanwhile, Valencienne, the Ambassador’s wife, trying to fend off the affections of Camille, Count de Rosillon, the French Attaché to the Embassy, pushes him in Hanna’s direction and Hanna plays along in order to arouse Danilo’s jealousy. Naturally, the opera ends with a twist. Zeta decides to divorce his wife for being unfaithful and marry Hanna but Hanna surprises them all by saying she will lose her fortune if she remarries. After Danilo expresses his desire to marry her, she adds that she will lose her fortune only because it will pass to her new husband. Happily, Danilo resigns himself to his fate and saves his country from financial ruin. Finally, Valencienne proves to Zeta that she has been nothing less than “a highly respectable wife” and all ends well.
Well-known music from the opera includes the songs, “Vilja”, “You’ll Find Me at Maxim’s” and “The Merry Widow Waltz”. Join us for a program featuring excerpts from this delightfully entertaining opera performed by members of the Florentine Opera Saturday, October 27th at 12:30 p.m. in the Wauwatosa Library Firefly Room.
