Lehar: The Merry Widowby Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

March 06, 2005: Oooh! What a treat to be able to review my very favorite CD! In spite of very minor iniquities that are mainly due to personal taste, I MUST rate this CD five stars. Bryn Terfel plays a buffoonish, swaggering Baron Zita instead of the usual Gilbert-and-Sullivan patter baritone type. Barbara Bonney makes an enchanting Valancienne, with that light yet full-throated voice and sparkling vibrato. The singers are all actors of the first order, especially the aforementioned. Camille's love aria will make you stop and sigh in listening to it. Now, I wasn't crazy about the singer who played Hanna; she tried to make an impression with her vocal acting, which mainly meant that she did a lot of squeaking on the high notes. Still, her Viljia was decent. Danilo seemed good to me, although not outstanding. Overall, however, this is a golden CD and better than any of the other recordings of the opera I have heard, including (and this will get me in trouble) the Scwartzopf recording. I admire all of Gardiner's work - it is neat and trim, good tempos, and only the best singers for the operas. The booklet contains the script and synopsis, all you need to know, so try Lehart's masterpiece. Every aria is a gem, and you will be humming it all day long!