What do you think of Lehar's "The Merry Widow"?

[IcedNote]

The UMiami people are doing it this weekend. I don't know anything about it at all. Should I go? Yes...I know I should see every free concert I can, but I don't have time to see one that's awful.

-G

[Ralph]

Definitely go! "The Merry Widow Waltz" has always been, for me, THE most romantic short piece of music.

Enjoy and report back, please.

[GK]

Also the wonderful Vilya aria.

[lmpower]

In addition to those two gems there are many other outstanding pieces in the Merry Widow. It is one of the most delightful experiences in theater. You need to be romantically inclined to really appreciate it though. Back around 1905 through 1907 a Merry Widow craze swept the world. People danced the Merry Widow waltz, wore merry widow hats, ate merry widow chocolates, smoked merry widow cigars etc. It was comparable then to Elvis or the Beatles later, but then that was a very different age. That was La Belle Epoque, before modernity swamped us. Today The Merry Widow would probably be regarded as corny. Why experience something beautiful when you can be entertained by Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith.

[Corlyss_D]

The UMiami people are doing it this weekend. I don't know anything about it at all. Should I go? Yes...I know I should see every free concert I can, but I don't have time to see one that's awful.

-G

Go. It's the height of Viennese gemutlichkeit, if I may mix Austrian and Bavarian sensibilities. A mere 10 years later, the feeling it represents would be dead on the battlefields of Europe. And you can whistle the tunes as you leave the theater.

http://www.musicals101.com/widowhist.htm

[lmpower]

A mere 10 years later, the feeling it represents would be dead on the battlefields of Europe.

This is sadly so true. Lehar's works after the war are suffused with a bittersweet sadness and nostalgia.