This week on The Lyric Stage, a 1962 highlights version of Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow, featuring Lisa Della Casa as the Merry Widow and John Reardon as the Count Danillo, with Franz Allers conducting the American Opera Society Orchestra and Chorus in a 1962 recording. One of the most performed stage pieces ever written, The Merry Widow premiered in Vienna in 1905, and has held stage continiously throughout the world since.
The story concerns a rich widow, Hanna, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband. It's based on an 1861 comedy play, L'attaché d'ambassade (The Embassy Attaché) by Henri Meilhac, the same Meilhac who wrote by himself or collaborated with others on the librettos for Carmen, Manon, and La Vie Parissiene, among many more works.