This is a discography of The Merry Widow (German: Die lustige Witwe), an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. It was first performed at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 30 December 1905. The operetta has been recorded both live and in the studio many times, and several video recordings have been made.Die lustige Witwe recordings. operadis-opera-discography.org.uk, accessed 10 May 2011Kenrick, John. "Merry Widow 101: Discography". Musicals101.com, 2006, accessed 28 July 2011 The first recording of a substantially complete version of the score was made in 1907 with Marie Ottmann and Gustav Matzner in the lead roles.O'Connor, Patrick. "A Viennese Whirl", Gramophone, October 2005, pp. 48–52 The next full recording was issued in 1950, in English with Dorothy Kirsten and Robert Rounseville in the leading roles.
In 1953, EMI's Columbia label released a near-complete versionIt omits "Das ist der Zauber der stillen Häuslichkeit": see O'Connor, Patrick. "A Viennese Whirl", Gramophone, October 2005, p. 50 produced by Walter Legge, conducted by Otto Ackermann, with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf as Hanna, Erich Kunz as Danilo, Nicolai Gedda as Camille and Emmy Loose as Valencienne. It was sung in German, with abridged spoken dialogue.Sackville-West, pp. 401–402 Loose sang Valencienne again for Decca in the first stereophonic recording, produced in 1958 by John Culshaw, with Hilde Gueden, Per Grundén and Waldemar Kmentt in the other main roles, and the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Robert Stolz.Stuart, Philip. "Decca Classical, 1929-2009". Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, July 2009, accessed 11 May 2011 A second recording with Schwarzkopf as Hanna was issued by Columbia in 1963; the other main roles were sung by Eberhard Wächter, Gedda and Hanny Steffek. This set, conducted by Lovro von Matačić, has been reissued on CD in EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series.March, p. 698 Among later complete or substantially complete sets are those conducted by Herbert von Karajan with Elizabeth Harwood as Hanna (1972); Franz Welser-Möst with Felicity Lott (1993); and John Eliot Gardiner with Cheryl Studer (1994).
The Ackermann recording received the highest available rating in the 1956 The Record Guide and the later EMI set under Matačić is highly rated by the 2008 The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music, but Alan Blyth in his Opera on CD regrets the casting of a baritone as Danilo in both sets and prefers the 1958 Decca version.Blyth, pp. 138–139 Among the filmed productions on DVD, the Penguin Guide recommends the one from the San Francisco Opera, recorded live in 2001, conducted by Erich Kunzel and directed by Lotfi Mansouri, with Yvonne Kenny as Hanna and Bo Skovhus as Danilo.
The recordings listed below are sung in German unless otherwise noted.
Audio DateRecordingConductorOrchestra (if known)Notes 1906 unknown 1907 studio Bruno Seidler-Winkler Grammophon-Streich-Orchester with dialogue 1931 studio (excerpts) unknown Sung in Spanish 193? studio (excerpts) Paul Minsart Grand Orchestra French 1942 studio (excerpts) Isaac Van Grove English 1943-44 studio (excerpts) Isaac Van Grove English 1948? studio (excerpts) Max Rudolf English 1950 radio Wilhelm Stephan Sinfonieorchester des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks, Hamburg 1950? studio (excerpts) Al Goodman Al Goodman Orchestra English 1950? studio Victor Reinshagen Tonhalle Orchester Zürich 1951? studio (excerpts) George Greeley English 1952 studio (excerpts) Lehman Engel English 1953 studio (excerpts) Jules Gressier Orchestre Lamoureux French 1953 studio Otto Ackermann Philharmonia Orchestra 1953? studio (excerpts) Heinz Sandauer Das große Funkorchester von Radio Wien 1955 studio (excerpts) Enrique Montorio, Ricardo Navarro, Daniel Estavarena Orquesta de Cámera de Madrid Spanish 1956? studio Marcel Cariven Grande Orchestra French 1957 studio (excerpts) Hans Hagen Vienna Volksoper 1958 studio (excerpts) William Reid Sadler's Wells Opera English 1958 studio Robert Stolz Vienna State Opera 1959? studio (excerpts) R Chevreux French 1959? studio (excerpts) Egon Kjerrman 1959? studio (excerpts) Richard Müller-Lampertz French 195? radio Max Schönherr Das große Funkorchester von Radio Wien 195? studio (excerpts) Richard Blareau French 195? studio (excerpts) Cesare Gallino Orchestra Lirica Cetra Italian 195? studio (excerpts) Franz Marszalek Großes Operetten-Orchester 195? studio (excerpts) Edmund Nick Munich Philharmonic 195? studio (excerpts) Wilhelm Stephan Großes Operetten-Orchester 1960 studio (excerpts) Franck Pourcel Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire French 1960? studio (excerpts) Anton Paulik Großes Operetten-Orchester 1960? studio (excerpts) Werner Schmidt-Boelcke FFB Orchester 1960? studio (excerpts) George Walter The Opera Society Orchestra 1961 studio (excerpts) Lehman Engel English 1961 studio (excerpts) John Hollingsworth Sinfonia of London English 1962 studio Lovro von Matačić Philharmonia Orchestra 1962? studio (excerpts) Franz Allers American Opera Society English 1962? studio (excerpts) Jacques Pastory French 1964 studio (excerpts) Franz Allers Music Theater of Lincoln Center English 1964? studio (excerpts) Rudolf Neuhaus Dresden Philharmonic 1965 studio Robert Stolz Berliner Sinfoniker 1966 studio Yvon Leenart Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire French 1967 studio (excerpts) Willy Mattes Das Symphonieorchester Graunke 1968 studio (excerpts) Franz Marszalek Großes Operetten-Orchester 1968? studio (excerpts) Franz Bauer-Theussl Vienna State Opera orchestra and Volksoper 1968? studio (excerpts) Vilém Tauský English 196? studio (excerpts) J. Armitage Fuggle Harrow Light Opera Company English 196? studio (excerpts) Paul Popescu Romanian National Opera Rumanian 196? studio A Mikhailov Moscow Operetta Theater Russian 1970 radio Adolphe Sibert (Siebert) Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F. French 1972 studio Herbert von Karajan Berlin Philharmonic 1974 live Armando Krieger Spanish 1976 studio (excerpts) Alexander Gibson Scottish Philharmonia English 1977 studio (excerpts) Richard Bonynge National Philharmonic Orchestra English 1978 studio (excerpts) Julius Rudel New York City Opera English 1980 studio Heinz Wallberg Munich Radio Orchestra 1982 live Rudolf Bibl Vienna Volksoper 1986 live Baldo (Bruno) Podic Lyric Opera of Chicago English 1986 studio (excerpts) Barry Wordsworth New Sadler's Wells Opera Orchestra English 1989 live (composite) Yoko Matsuo Tokyo Symphony Orchestra Japanese 198? studio Algis Ziuraidis Large Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Radio and TV Russian 1993 live (composite) Franz Welser-Möst London Philharmonic Orchestra English narration by Dirk Bogarde of script by Tom Stoppard 1994 studio John Eliot Gardiner Vienna Philharmonic 1997 Helmut Froschauer Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Köln 19?? radio Cesare Gallino RAI Torino Italian 19?? studio (excerpts) ? Bessière French 19?? studio (excerpts) Jean Doussard French 19?? studio (excerpts) Jean Doussard French 19?? studio (excerpts) Laszlo Makláry Budapest Operetta Theatre 19?? studio (excerpts) Boris Mersson Orchestre des Concerts de Paris French 19?? Hans Killer French 2000 live Andrew Davis Metropolitan Opera English 2004 live Kirill Petrenko Metropolitan Opera English 2005 studio Rudolf Bibl Orchestra of the Seefestspiele Mörbisch 2006 live Cyril Diederich Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne French 2007 live Graeme Jenkins Dallas Civic Opera English 2018 live Joana Mallwitz Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester
Video
DateRecordingConductorCast: Hanna, DaniloOrchestra 1952 film (in English) Jay Blackton Trudy Erwins, Fernando Lamas 1977 live (in English) Theo Alcántara Beverly Sills, Alan Titus San Diego Opera 1983 live (in French) Armin Jordan Anne Howells, Mikael Melbye Orchestre de la Suisse Romande 1986 live Christoph von Dohnányi Anja Silja, Kurt Schreibmayer La Monnaie 1988 live (in English) Richard Bonynge Joan Sutherland, Ronald Stevens Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra 1990 live (in Italian) Daniel Oren Raina Kabaivanska, Mikael Melbye Teatro dell'Opera di Roma 1993 live Konstantin Schenk Elisabeth Kales, Peter Edelmann Philharmonie Bratislava 1997 live Armin Jordan Karita Mattila, Bo Skovhus Opéra national de Paris 2001 live (in English) Erich Kunzel Yvonne Kenny, Bo Skovhus San Francisco Opera 2003 live Franz Welser-Möst Dagmar Schellenberger, Rodney Gilfry Zurich Opera House 2005 live Rudolf Bibl Margarita de Arellano, Mathias Hausmann Orchester des Seefestspiele Mörbisch 2007 live Manfred Honeck Petra-Maria Schnitzer, Bo Skovhus Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden 2015 live Sir Andrew Davis Renee Fleming, Nathan Gunn Metropolitan Opera
References Notes
Sources Operadis discography, accessed 11 May 2011 Blyth, Alan. Opera on CD. London: Kyle Cathie, 1992. March, Ivan (ed). Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008. London: Penguin Books, 2007. Sackville-West, Edward, and Desmond Shawe-Taylor. The Record Guide. London: Collins, 1956. OCLC 500373060