The Merry Widow of the Paris Opera/Palais Garnier: DIE LUSTIGE WITWE

I went to the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier) to listen to Lehar's "The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe)." I rarely listen to operas or operettas because I don't understand the language, but I wanted to experience the atmosphere of the Paris Opera, so I bought a box seat and went to listen.

Table of Contents

cast

The cast is as follows:

handle	cast
Conductor	Asher Fisch
Baron Mirko Zeta	Harald Serafin
Valenciennes	Ana Maria Labin
Valenciennes	Ana Maria Labin
Graf Danilo	Bo Skovhus
Hanna Glawari	Susan Graham
Hanna Glawari	Christina Dietzsch-Carvin
Hanna Glawari	Aurélie Nadelmann
Camille de Rosillon	Daniel Behle
Vicomte Cascada	Edwin Crossley-Mercer
Raoul of Saint-Brioche	François Piolino
Bogdanowitsch	Francis Bouyer
Sylviane	Claudia galli
Kromow	Francis Dudziak
Olga	Andrea Hill
Pricing	Fabrice Dalis
Praskowia	Michele Lagrange
Njegus	Franz Mazura

Suzan Graham and Bo Skovhus — Susan Graham, Bo Skovhus. Photo: Julien Benhamou

"The Merry Widow" at the Paris Opera

This production at the Paris OperaHanna by Karita Mattila Apparently her version is famous. She is indeed good, but the version I heard by Suzan Graham was also very good. Vilja Lied's sadness was touching, and her performance of "Lippen Schweigen" was also excellent. Hanna's confusion was clearly apparent, and she was even more adorable than Karita Mattila. Well, it's a bit unfair to compare the live version with the YouTube version. (I replaced it with a partial version sung by Suzan Graham, which I found on YouTube [2025-04-28])

Danilo is played by the same actor who appears in this video. Bo SkovhusThis video is apparently from 1997, so it's 15 years later. He looks older, but I think his character has more depth.

"Songs" sold during breaks

During the break, the person selling the programs was singing "Programme de sorlér ~♪" like a bird. I don't think you see this very often in other countries... I wonder how it is in Italy.