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.[1][2] 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.[3] The next full recording was issued in 1950, in English with Dorothy Kirsten and Robert Rounseville in the leading roles.[3]

In 1953, EMI's Columbia label released a near-complete version[4] 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[3] This set, conducted by Lovro von Matačić, has been reissued on CD in EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" series.[7] 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).[3]

The Ackermann recording received the highest available rating in the 1956 The Record Guide[5] and the later EMI set under Matačić is highly rated by the 2008 The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music,[7] 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.[8] 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.[7]

The recordings listed below are sung in German unless otherwise noted.

Audio

Date Recording Conductor Orchestra (if known) Notes
1906unknown
1907studioBruno Seidler-WinklerGrammophon-Streich-Orchesterwith dialogue
1931studio (excerpts)unknownSung in Spanish
193?studio (excerpts)Paul MinsartGrand OrchestraFrench
1942studio (excerpts)Isaac Van GroveEnglish
1943-44studio (excerpts)Isaac Van GroveEnglish
1948?studio (excerpts)Max RudolfEnglish
1950radioWilhelm StephanSinfonieorchester des Nordwestdeutschen Rundfunks, Hamburg
1950?studio (excerpts)Al GoodmanAl Goodman OrchestraEnglish
1950?studioVictor ReinshagenTonhalle Orchester Zürich
1951?studio (excerpts)George GreeleyEnglish
1952studio (excerpts)Lehman EngelEnglish
1953studio (excerpts)Jules GressierOrchestre LamoureuxFrench
1953studioOtto AckermannPhilharmonia Orchestra
1953?studio (excerpts)Heinz SandauerDas große Funkorchester von Radio Wien
1955studio (excerpts)Enrique Montorio,
Ricardo Navarro,
Daniel Estavarena
Orquesta de Cámera de MadridSpanish
1956?studioMarcel CarivenGrande OrchestraFrench
1957studio (excerpts)Hans HagenVienna Volksoper
1958studio (excerpts)William ReidSadler's Wells OperaEnglish
1958studioRobert StolzVienna State Opera
1959?studio (excerpts)R ChevreuxFrench
1959?studio (excerpts)Egon Kjerrman
1959?studio (excerpts)Richard Müller-LampertzFrench
195?radioMax SchönherrDas große Funkorchester von Radio Wien
195?studio (excerpts)Richard BlareauFrench
195?studio (excerpts)Cesare GallinoOrchestra Lirica CetraItalian
195?studio (excerpts)Franz MarszalekGroßes Operetten-Orchester
195?studio (excerpts)Edmund NickMunich Philharmonic
195?studio (excerpts)Wilhelm StephanGroßes Operetten-Orchester
1960studio (excerpts)Franck PourcelOrchestre de la Société des Concerts du ConservatoireFrench
1960?studio (excerpts)Anton PaulikGroßes Operetten-Orchester
1960?studio (excerpts)Werner Schmidt-BoelckeFFB Orchester
1960?studio (excerpts)George WalterThe Opera Society Orchestra
1961studio (excerpts)Lehman EngelEnglish
1961studio (excerpts)John HollingsworthSinfonia of LondonEnglish
1962studioLovro von MatačićPhilharmonia Orchestra
1962?studio (excerpts)Franz AllersAmerican Opera SocietyEnglish
1962?studio (excerpts)Jacques PastoryFrench
1964studio (excerpts)Franz AllersMusic Theater of Lincoln CenterEnglish
1964?studio (excerpts)Rudolf NeuhausDresden Philharmonic
1965studioRobert StolzBerliner Sinfoniker
1966studioYvon LeenartOrchestre de la Société des Concerts du ConservatoireFrench
1967studio (excerpts)Willy MattesDas Symphonieorchester Graunke
1968studio (excerpts)Franz MarszalekGroßes Operetten-Orchester
1968?studio (excerpts)Franz Bauer-TheusslVienna State Opera orchestra and Volksoper
1968?studio (excerpts)Vilém TauskýEnglish
196?studio (excerpts)J. Armitage FuggleHarrow Light Opera CompanyEnglish
196?studio (excerpts)Paul PopescuRomanian National OperaRumanian
196?studioA MikhailovMoscow Operetta TheaterRussian
1970radioAdolphe Sibert (Siebert)Orchestre Lyrique de l'O.R.T.F.French
1972studioHerbert von KarajanBerlin Philharmonic
1974liveArmando KriegerSpanish
1976studio (excerpts)Alexander GibsonScottish PhilharmoniaEnglish
1977studio (excerpts)Richard BonyngeNational Philharmonic OrchestraEnglish
1978studio (excerpts)Julius RudelNew York City OperaEnglish
1980studioHeinz WallbergMunich Radio Orchestra
1982liveRudolf BiblVienna Volksoper
1986liveBaldo (Bruno) PodicLyric Opera of ChicagoEnglish
1986studio (excerpts)Barry WordsworthNew Sadler's Wells Opera OrchestraEnglish
1989live (composite)Yoko MatsuoTokyo Symphony OrchestraJapanese
198?studioAlgis ZiuraidisLarge Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Radio and TVRussian
1993live (composite)Franz Welser-MöstLondon Philharmonic Orchestra
1994studioJohn Eliot GardinerVienna Philharmonic
1997Helmut FroschauerRundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Köln
19??radioCesare GallinoRAI TorinoItalian
19??studio (excerpts) ? BessièreFrench
19??studio (excerpts)Jean DoussardFrench
19??studio (excerpts)Jean DoussardFrench
19??studio (excerpts)Laszlo MakláryBudapest Operetta Theatre
19??studio (excerpts)Boris MerssonOrchestre des Concerts de ParisFrench
19??Hans KillerFrench
2000liveAndrew DavisMetropolitan OperaEnglish
2004liveKirill PetrenkoMetropolitan OperaEnglish
2005studioRudolf BiblOrchestra of the Seefestspiele Mörbisch
2006liveCyril DiederichOrchestre de Chambre de LausanneFrench
2007liveGraeme JenkinsDallas Civic OperaEnglish
2018liveJoana MallwitzFrankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester

Video

Date Recording Conductor Cast: Hanna, Danilo Orchestra
1952film (in English)Jay BlacktonTrudy Erwins, Fernando Lamas
1977live (in English)Theo AlcántaraBeverly Sills, Alan TitusSan Diego Opera
1983live (in French)Armin JordanAnne Howells, Mikael MelbyeOrchestre de la Suisse Romande
1986liveChristoph von DohnányiAnja Silja, Kurt SchreibmayerLa Monnaie
1988live (in English)Richard BonyngeJoan Sutherland, Ronald StevensSydney Elizabethan Orchestra
1990live (in Italian)Daniel OrenRaina Kabaivanska, Mikael MelbyeTeatro dell'Opera di Roma
1993liveKonstantin SchenkElisabeth Kales, Peter EdelmannPhilharmonie Bratislava
1997liveArmin JordanKarita Mattila, Bo SkovhusOpéra national de Paris
2001live (in English)Erich KunzelYvonne Kenny, Bo SkovhusSan Francisco Opera
2003liveFranz Welser-MöstDagmar Schellenberger, Rodney GilfryZurich Opera House
2005liveRudolf BiblMargarita de Arellano, Mathias HausmannOrchester des Seefestspiele Mörbisch
2007liveManfred HoneckPetra-Maria Schnitzer, Bo SkovhusSächsische Staatskapelle Dresden
2015liveSir Andrew DavisRenee Fleming, Nathan GunnMetropolitan Opera

References

Notes

  1. Die lustige Witwe recordings. operadis-opera-discography.org.uk, accessed 10 May 2011
  2. Kenrick, John. "Merry Widow 101: Discography". Musicals101.com, 2006, accessed 28 July 2011
  3. 1 2 3 4 O'Connor, Patrick. "A Viennese Whirl", Gramophone, October 2005, pp. 48–52
  4. It omits "Das ist der Zauber der stillen Häuslichkeit": see O'Connor, Patrick. "A Viennese Whirl", Gramophone, October 2005, p. 50
  5. 1 2 Sackville-West, pp. 401–402
  6. Stuart, Philip. "Decca Classical, 1929-2009". Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, July 2009, accessed 11 May 2011
  7. 1 2 3 March, p. 698
  8. Blyth, pp. 138–139

Sources

  • Operadis discography, accessed 11 May 2011
  • Blyth, Alan. Opera on CD. London: Kyle Cathie, 1992. ISBN 1-85626-103-4
  • March, Ivan (ed). Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music 2008. London: Penguin Books, 2007. ISBN 0-14-103336-3
  • Sackville-West, Edward, and Desmond Shawe-Taylor. The Record Guide. London: Collins, 1956. OCLC 500373060
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