Preview: Knoxville Opera Courts ‘The Merry Widow’

Summoning its audience back to the familiar venue of the Tennessee Theatre this weekend, Knoxville Opera offers up a work that is the perfect example of Viennese operetta, Die lustige Witwe, or The Merry Widow, with music by Franz Lehár.

 

The History

Franz Lehár’s librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based their work on a comic play by the French dramatist, Henri Meilhac, entitled L’Attaché d’ambassade. If Meilhac sounds familiar in the world of opera and operetta, it is probably because of his co-collaboration with Ludovic Halévy as librettists on Bizet’s Carmen and numerous librettos for Jacques Offenbach in the 1860s.

The Merry Widow was premiered at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on December 30, 1905—slowly, but eventually becoming incredibly popular throughout Europe in the early 20th Century. Later in the century, revivals fueled even more popularity, leading opera companies, including New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, to feature it in their schedules.

The Story

The opera opens in Paris and the embassy of the tiny, poverty-stricken, fictional Balkan province of Pontevedro—alluding to, of course, the principality of Montenegro. The ambassador, Baron Zeta, is determined that the wealthy young widow from his homeland, Hanna Glawari, having inherited a vast sum from her late husband, will remarry with a Pontevedrian—and not a Frenchman—thus keeping the money in the country and saving them from ruin. Zeta favors Count Danilo for a match, but that pair had a prior romantic relationship—a relationship that was ruined by his family over money, or the lack of it.

Of course, misunderstandings ensue—and, the situation is awash in comic intrigues when we discover that Valencienne, the Baron’s wife, is having an affair with Camille, the Count de Rosillon. Hanna attempts to save the reputation of the married Valencienne, by claiming that she intends to marry Camille. Inevitably, with the issue of the widow’s fortune bandied about and resolved, Hanna and Danilo confess their love for each other.

The Music

Lehár’s bubbly, waltz-rich score mixes the musical textures of fin de siècle Paris and its glamorous, if naughty, society culture with rustic folk textures illustrating the Balkan state and its place in Austro-Hungarian Empire. Familiar numbers from the score include the “Vilja Song,” about a mythical forest enchantress, sung by Hanna, “Da geh’ ich zu Maxim” (“You’ll Find Me at Maxim’s”), and the joyous optimism and nostalgia of the “Merry Widow Waltz”.

The Cast and Creative Staff

This production, a collaboration between Knoxville Opera and the University of Tennessee Opera Theatre, features a cast of both guest singers, some quite familiar to Knoxville audiences, and UT Opera students in supporting roles.

Singing the role of Hanna Glawari is soprano Susannah Biller, a UT alumnus now booked by opera companies around the U.S. Baritone Sean Anderson, a familiar face and voice to Knoxville audiences from productions such as Madama Butterfly in 2019, will be heard as Count Danilo.

Appearing in the 2015-18 Metropolitan Opera production of The Merry Widow with Renée Fleming, Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, and Alek Shrader, was baritone Gary Simpson who will sing the role of Baron Zeta in this KO production. Donata Cucinotta will be heard as Valencienne, and tenor John Riesen, recently heard in KO’s Glory Denied, will sing the role of Camille.

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra will be in the pit with conductor Kevin Class from the UT Opera Theatre. Stage director and choreographer is Dean Anthony, KO’s new producing stage director. Lighting designer is John Horner; set designer is Jefferson Ridenour.

Secondary roles:

Njegus – – – Gregory Sliskovich
St. Brioche – – – Shaquille St. John *
Cascada – – – James Hooper Stevens *
Kromow – – – Lee Brandt
Bogdanovitch – – – Jacob Lay
Pritschitsch – – – James (JJ) Robinson *
Sylviane – – – Mikeila McQueston *
Olga – – – Abigail Schlichtmann *
Praskova – – – Staley Clark *

* indicates a Knoxville Opera Studio member