Organization

Singer

Soprano

Caroline Worra

Hannah Glawari

Jessica Sandidge

Baritone

Richard Troxell

Count Danilo Danilowitsch

Jonathan Beyer

Isaac Droscha

Baron Mirko Zeta

Megan Pachecano

Valencienne

Amelia Watkins

Tenor

Piotr Buszewski

Camille of Rosillon

Victor Ryan Robertson

Spoken

Pichead Amornsomboon

Njegus

Sammy Chien

Kromow

Petrus Cheung

Bogdanovitch

Charlene Lee

Sylviane

Henry Ngan

Ralph of Saint-Brioche

George Mosley

Viscount Cascada

Mezzo-soprano

Phoebe Tam

Olga

Frankie Fung

Pritschitsch

Kenix Tsang

Praskowia

Stage director

Lo Kingman

Conductor

Lio Kuokman

Lighting designer

Zoe Cheung

Costume designer

Andrew Cheung

Set designer

Issac Wong

Choreographer

Hu Song Wei

Chorus master

Lesley Chan

Musica Viva Singers

English

Die lustige Witwe -  (The Merry Widow)

Hong Kong

Hong Kong SAR China

City Hall

Die lustige Witwe Lehár

Public

The Merry Widow

Chinese

Approved

• Valencienne: Megan Pachecano, Soprano Camille: Piotr Buszewski, Tenor  Franz Lehár, The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe) – Act I Duet, "Look, Now's Our Chance...A Highly Respectable Wife" (Duett, „So kommen Sie!...Ich bin eine anständ'ge Frau")  Musica Viva Hong Kong, Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, December 2019

The Merry Widow – Pachecano &amp; Buszewski Duet, "Look, Now's Our Chance...A Highly Respectable Wife"

Viennese operetta, both in its theatrical form and musical structure, was strongly influenced by the French opera bouffe developed by Jacques Offenbach. Its roots can be traced to the German Singspiel and the Italian opera buffa, of which Mozart and Rossini were, respectively, the most famous exponents. As entertainment for the prosperous Viennese public, operetta enjoyed a wide popularity in the second half of the nineteenth century. A number of works by talented composers such as Franz von Suppé and Johann Strauss II reach a very high artistic standard. The latter, with his exceptional gift for high society dance music, especially his splendid waltzes, created a work of lasting appeal, Die Fledermaus, in 1874. It was Franz Lehár, a generation later in 1905, who brought to the world an immortal masterpiece, Die Lustige Witwe, the universally acclaimed The Merry Widow.

The unrivalled success of The Merry Widow is primarily due to Lehár’s creative originality which is unique in the realm of light music. The whole work presents an unrelenting succession of wonderful melodies that are at once mellifluous, refreshing, witty, expressive and full of vitality. These songs, dances ensembles and choruses are not just attractive tunes. These compositions infused with ingenious harmony, counterpoint and orchestration. The music fits the characters and situations perfectly. Its energy and natural flow enhance the development of the story. The librettists Léon and Stein based their text on a French comedy but invented many crafty turns of events and introduced a Balkan background into a carefree Parisian atmosphere which provided Lehár with the opportunity of making brilliant use of ethnic colours and fashionable dance rhythms. Unlike many other operettas, the plot of The Merry Widow is not frivolous nor absurd but progresses logically with subtle and they behave with understandable motivations and emotions.

The Merry Widow by Lehár, From (2019/2019), Directed by Lo Kingman,, Conductor Lio Kuokman, City Hall, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR China

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Program, About & Synopsis

Reviews

Videos

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues