Casts:
Performance on November 18, 2023 – click here
Performance on November 19, 2023 – click here
Performance on November 25, 2023 – click here
Performance on November 26, 2023 – click here
Performance on December 9, 2023 – click here
Performance on December 10, 2023 – click here

THE MERRY WIDOW (original title: Die lustige Witwe) – PREMIERE, Franz Lehár, operetta

Composed in 1905 to a libretto by Victor Léon and Leo Stein, the operetta premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on December 30, 1905. Although initial audience and critical reactions were unfavorable, ‘The Merry Widow’ quickly gained immense popularity. It was first performed in Poland in Warsaw, just one year after its Viennese premiere (November 16). Today, the refrain of the famous duet between the two main characters – Hanna Glavari and Count Danila – The lips are silent, the soul sings – is something almost anyone can hum.

Considered a classic of the operetta repertoire, the work will also appear on the stage of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic, in a Polish-language version by Jerzy Jurandot and Józef Słotwiński, translated by Michał Znaniecki.

Franz Lehár’s operetta tells the adventures of the titular widow, Hanna, a citizen of the fictional Principality of Pontevedra, fabulously wealthy thanks to an inheritance from her banker husband.
What can a woman do in such a situation? Go to Paris, for example, to indulge in madness and fall in love! And what if love leads to marriage to a foreigner? Then the money will also leave the country, causing the Pontevedra Treasury Minister to pound. Intrigues and secrets – all this to cunningly dissuade Hanna from a potential marriage. Will this chain of events lead to a happy ending?

One thing is certain – we will enjoy Franz Lehár’s magnificent music, performed brilliantly.

Franz Lehár’s 1905 operetta was a huge success and hailed as a masterpiece of the genre. It is considered the finest and most frequently performed operetta, filled with captivating arias and duets, including perhaps its most popular hit The Lips Are Silent, the Soul Sings. For years, it has entertained audiences with its bold and witty libretto. The 1944 Broadway production of “The Merry Widow,” directed by Jan Kiepura himself and starring Marta Eggerth, gained worldwide acclaim.

Lucjan Kydryński’s “Operetta Guide” states:

The first to receive the libretto of The Merry Widow for musical adaptation was Ryszard Heuberger, the author of The Ball at the Opera. However, the first fragments of his score so disappointed the librettists that they terminated their contract and entrusted The Merry Widow to the 35-year-old Lehár. Lehár, in turn, composed not only his best score for their text, but also one of the best in the history of operetta.

Duration: approx. 3 hours. (including two 20-minute intermissions)

The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár

Libretto: Victor Leon, Leo Stein
Translation: Jerzy Jurandot, Józef Słotwiński
Adaptation of the translation: Michał Znaniecki
Musical Direction: Andrzej Knap
Direction: Michał Znaniecki
Set Design: Luigi Scoglio
Costumes: Małgorzata Słoniowska
Choreography: Inga Pilchowska
OiFP Choir Director: Violetta Bielecka
Lighting Design: Dariusz Albrycht
Multimedia Set Design: Karolina Jacewicz
Musical Collaboration | Second Conductor: Wojciech Semerau-Siemianowski
Assistant Director: Rafał Supiński
Choreographic collaboration: Joanna Marta Kierzkowska
Vocal Coach: Tomasz Rak
Pianist-accompanist: Karina Komendera, Anna Krzysztofik-Buczyńska
Pianist-choir coach: Monika Bierć
Pianist-ballet accompanist: Grażyna Kuklińska

Orchestration of Quite Parisian: Krzysztof Dombek

Hanna Glawari
Grażyna Brodzińska / Dorota Wójcik

Count Daniło
Arkadiusz Anyszka / Adam Zaremba

Baron Mirko Zeta
Przemysław Rezner / Kirill Lepay

Walentyna
Magdalena Stefaniak / Anna Wolfinger

Camille de Rossillon
Hubert Stolarski / Szymon Rona

Viscount Cascada
Maciej Nerkowski / Krzysztof Szyfman

Raoul de Saint-Brioche
Rafał Supiński / Piotr Pawlak

Bogdanowicz
Paweł Cichoński / Karol Komenda

Sylviana
Magdalena Masiewicz / Dariia Lahotska

Kromow
Artur Mądry / Karol Komenda

Olga
Danuta Jakimowicz / Anna Durniat

Niegus
Paweł Strymiński / Piotr Pawlak

Orchestra and Choir of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic

Gryzetki
Izabela Bolesta, Anna Durniat, Oksana Gołambowska, Małgorzata Mukosiej

Dancers
Natasza Borycka, Joanna Frątczak, Natalia Jóźwiak, Ewelina Kruk, Karolina Merda, Alicja Złoch, Szymon Harasimowicz, Jan Kosianko, Arkadiusz Jarosz, Łukasz Józefowicz, Jakub Jóźwiak, Sebastian Piotrowicz, Mateusz Sobczak

The performance features set design elements by Paweł Dobrzycki, Mariusz Napierała, and Grzegorz Policiński.