Operetta in three acts by Victor Leon and Leo Stein – Music by F. Lehar

In the seventies, it was estimated that there were over five hundred thousand performances of La Vedova allegra all over the world. Someone declared that it was therefore the most performed theatrical show. The record-breaking operetta, however, had a gestation that to define as “difficult” may seem like an understatement. Lehar himself managed to obtain the score (which others wanted to entrust to the more experienced Heuberger) by having the librettist Victor Leon listen to the refrain of the duet “Hop lay, hoplà” over the telephone.
Karezag, director of the Theater an der Wien, was so sure of the “fiasco” of this new creation that he even offered two thousand five hundred forints as long as Lehar would withdraw it even before the premiere. Staged with sets and costumes already used in previous operettas, The Merry Widow was translated into twenty-five languages, setting trends in the history of theater and costume.

2003 – 24 July – Belriguardo Castle, Voghiera

Silvia Della Benetta Anna Glavary
Sandra Gigli Valancienne
Massimo Pezzutti Count Danilo Danilovic
Francescantonio Bille Camillo De Rossillon
Maurizio Leoni Barone Zeta
Umberto Scida Njegus
Andrea Dal Canto Viscount Cascada
Alessandro Balanesi Raul of Saint Brioche
Paolo Parentini Kromow

Cantieri dell’Arte Camerata Orchestra
Schola Cantorum Labronica Choir
Choir Master Maurizio Preziosi
Ballet Dance in Opera
Choreography Patrizia Macagno
Sets and Costumes Fabrizio Megna
Directed by Carlo Emilio Lerici
Concertmaster and Director Morena Malaguti

14 August – Ca’ Granda della Partecipanza, S. Andrea della Decima

Silvia Della Benetta Anna Glavary
Sandra Gigli Valancienne
Maurizio Leoni Count Danilo Danilovic
Francescantonio Bille Camillo De Rossilon
Giulio Boschetti Barone Zeta
Umberto Scida Njegus
Andrea Dal Canto Viscount Cascada
Alessandro Balanesi Raul of Saint Brioche
Paolo Parentini Kromow

Cantieri dell’Arte Camerata Orchestra
Schola Cantorum Labronica Choir
Choir Master Maurizio Preziosi
Choreography Patrizia Macagno
Sets and Costumes Fabrizio Megna
Directed by Carlo Emilio Lerici
Concertmaster and Director Morena Malaguti