Viennese Operetta The Merry Widow Comes to Hong Kong
Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall, Central 
Why We Recommend it
Caroline Worra, hailed by Opera News as “one of the finest singing actresses around,” stars in The Merry Widow by influential twentieth-century Austro-Hungarian composer and conductor Franz Lehár.
Description
Operetta enjoyed a wide popularity in the second half of the nineteenth century, but it wasn’t until 1905 when Franz Lehár brought to the world an immortal masterpiece, The Merry Widow—a comedy concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen’s attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband.
Its success is primarily due to Lehár’s creative originality which is unique in the realm of light music. The whole work presents melodies that are at once mellifluous, refreshing, witty, expressive and full of vitality. The songs, dances ensembles and choruses are infused with ingenious harmony, counterpoint and orchestration.
The librettists Léon and Stein based their text on a French comedy but introduced a Balkan background into a carefree Parisian atmosphere, which provided Lehár with the opportunity of making 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.
Please note that Chinese and English surtitles will be provided for the English performance.
Details
When: 6 Dec 2019 - 8 Dec 2019 Where: Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall – 5 Edinburgh Place – Central
