Reider, Florian
A Very Merry Widow- Operette Goes Jazz
Jazz Arrangements for piano by Julia Maier / Johannes Berauer / Gerald Schuller / Tristan Schulze / Gernot Wolfgang / Andreas Hertel / Mathias Ruegg / Michael Publig / Roland Batik / Danny Grissett The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehar. The librettists, Viktor Leon 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'attache d'ambassade (The Embassy Attache) 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".