Merry Widow Waltz
(FRANZ LEHAR)
Merry Widow Waltz
by Franz Lehar
The Merry Widow (German: Die lustige Witwe) is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen’s attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play, L’attaché d’ambassade (The Embassy Attaché) by Henri Meilhac.
The operetta has enjoyed extraordinary international success since its 1905 premiere in Vienna and continues to be frequently revived and recorded. Film and other adaptations have also been made. Well-known music from the score includes the “Vilja Song”, “Da geh’ ich zu Maxim” (“You’ll Find Me at Maxim’s”), and the “Merry Widow Waltz“.
The San Francisco Opera, 2001.
Cond: Erich Kunzel
Hanna Glawari (merry widow) – Yvonne Kenny
earl Daniło Daniłowicz – Bo Skovhus
Lyrics
Love unspoken, faith unbroken, all life through
Strings are playing, hear them saying, “Love me true”
Now the echo answers, “Say you want me too”
All the world’s in love with love, and I love you
I hear the music play, it carries me away
All sorrow will have flown when you are mine and mine alone
So the music seems to say I’ve not a single thing to say
It’s wanting you to know I love you so
Now the echo answers, “Say you want me too”
All the world’s in love with love, and I love you
