The Merry Widow (ballet)
| The Merry Widow | |
|---|---|
| Choreographer | Ronald Hynd |
| Music |
Franz Lehár (adapted by John Lanchbery and Alan Abbott) |
| Based on | The Merry Widow operetta |
| Premiere | 13 November 1975 Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Original ballet company | The Australian Ballet |
| Setting | Paris |
| Created for | The Australian Ballet |
| Genre | Neoclassical ballet |
| Type | classical ballet |
The Merry Widow ballet is an adaptation of Franz Lehár's romantic operetta The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe).
John Lanchbery and Alan Abbott adapted the score of the operetta for ballet and retained the style of Lehár's orchestration. The arrangement includes the well-known tunes of the operetta - Vilja's song Ich bin eine anständige Frau and the Weibermarsch. This musical arrangement has been used for two ballets: the first was choreographed by Ronald Hynd for The Australian Ballet in 1975, while the second was choreographed by Veronica Paeper for CAPAB (since renamed the Cape Town City Ballet Company) in 1988.
The ballet was created for The Australian Ballet by Sir Robert Helpmann (a principal dancer and choreographer), who obtained permission from the heirs of the composer and the librettists (Viktor Léon and Leo Stein), by special arrangement with Glocken Verlag Ltd. of London. The scenario and staging were designed by Helpmann, with the choreography by Ronald Hynd. The orchestration was by John Lanchbery (who was then the musical director of The Australian Ballet) and his colleague Alan Abbott. The designer was Desmond Heeley.
The ballet had its world premiere on 13 November 1975 at the Palais Theatre in Melbourne, with Marilyn Rowe (Hanna), John Meehan (Danilo), Lucette Aldous (Valencienne), Kelvin Coe (Camille), Colin Peasley (Baron Mirko Zeta) and Ray Powell (Njegus). The performance was conducted by John Lanchbery. It premiered in Sydney at the Regent Theatre.
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