On screen

The Merry Widow

Watch on BBC Four and iPlayer on Christmas Day

You can watch our hit Festival 2024 production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow on Christmas Day, 25 December, at 8.00pm on BBC Four and on demand via BBC iPlayer.

This lavish new staging of Lehár’s sparkling romantic comedy has all the opulence of classic Hollywood. Glamorous, wealthy and recently widowed, can Hanna outwit the swarm of suitors in her search for true love? Danielle de Niese leads a stellar cast in this laugh-out-loud classic, which is sure to put a smile on your face as it spins around the glittering ballrooms of 1900s Paris.

Sung in English in a new version by Stephen Plaice and Marcia Bellamy with English supertitles.

Creative team

Conductor
John Wilson

Director
Cal McCrystal

Designer
Gary McCann

Choreographer
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille

Lighting Designer
Ben Cracknell

Assistant Conductor
Lee Reynolds

Associate Director
Tom Mallaburn

Assistant Director
Fiona Dunn

Associate Choreographer
Freya Sands

Senior Coach
Sergey Rybin

Repetiteurs
Kate Golla
Ashok Gupta

London Philharmonic Orchestra

The Glyndebourne Chorus
Chorus Director Aidan Oliver

Assistant Chorus Director
Avishka Edirisinghe

Cast includes

Hanna Glawari
Danielle de Niese

Count Danilo Danilovitsch
Germán Olvera

Baron Mirko Zeta
Thomas Allen

Valencienne
Soraya Mafi

Camille de Rosillon
Michael McDermott

Viscount Cascada
Alex Otterburn

Raoul de St Brioche
Innocent Masuku

Njegus
Tom Edden

Kronow
Michael Wallace*

Olga
Rachel Taylor*

Bogdanovitsch
Adam Marsden*

Sylviane
Emily Hodkinson*

Pritschitsch
John Mackenzie-Lavansch*

Praskowia
Melissa Gregory*

Dancers
Wednesday Houghton, Jaide Jeffrey, Phoebe Jones, Helen Rose, Katie Whitcombe

*Soloist from the Glyndebourne Chorus

The edition of The Merry Widow in these performances is edited by Lee Reynolds with John Wilson
In a new version by Stephen Plaice & Marcia Bellamy
Book & lyrics: Stephen Plaice
Lyrics and vocal setting: Marcia Bellamy

The Merry Widow from Glyndebourne is a Maestro Broadcasting production for BBC Four and BBC iPlayer. It was commissioned by BBC Arts. The Director is Rhodri Huw, the Executive Producer for Maestro Broadcasting is Gemma Dixon and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Stephen James-Yeoman.

Photos

Supported by Handel and Yvonne Evans

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