An Opera Holland Park, Scottish Opera and D’Oyly Carte Opera co-production, featuring the Buxton International Festival Orchestra.
Lehár’s delicious comedy of bankruptcy, infidelity, social climbing and the rekindling of romance between two old flames gets a twist of lemon in this production. Feisty, fabulous and filthy rich, Hanna Glawari is the merriest widow in New York, with a fortune in the bank, a lucrative lemon grove in Sicily, and a stampede of suitors vying for her attention. But money is power, and Mafioso Don Zeta recruits the many talents of wise guy Danilo, the happiest bachelor in New York, to ensure Hanna’s millions don’t end up married to the wrong man, with license to use any means necessary. Little does Zeta know, however, that Hanna and Danilo have quite the history…
John Savournin updates Lehár’s captivating will-they, won’t-they romance, with lavish designs by takis that evoke all the glamour of 1950s Manhattan. A new English translation by Savournin and David Eaton makes the opera’s wit sparkle. Iwan Davies conducts The Merry Widow with the Buxton International Festival Orchestra bringing this waltz-filled charmer to life in Buxton this summer. The cast is led by Paula Sides as Hanna Glawari and Dominic Sedgwick as Danilo, with Richard Burkhard as the powerful Don Zeta.
Libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based on L’attaché d’ambassade (The Embassy Attaché) by Henri Meilhac
Script by John Savournin & Lyrics by David Eaton
Sung in English with English side-titles
Duration: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including a 20-minute interval
CREATIVE TEAM
Iwan Davies Conductor
John Savournin Director
Bence Kalo Revival Director
takis Set & Costume Designer
Ben Pickersgill Lighting Designer
Merry Holden Revival Choreographer
Rebecca Warren Repetiteur
CAST
Paula Sides Hanna Glawari
Dominic Sedgwick Danilo
Richard Burkhard Don Zeta
Elizabeth Karani Valentina
Luke Sinclair Camille
Matthew Kellett Nicky Negus
Phil Wilcox Mr Kromow
John Ieuan Jones Mr Bogdanovitch
Eleri Gwilym Sylvia
Harry Thatcher Sam Briochi
Christopher Nairne Carmelo Cascada
Amy J Payne Olga
George Robarts Mr Pritschitisch
Catrine Kirkman Paulina
Buxton International Festival Orchestra and Chorus
