The Merry Widow by Franz Lehár (1870-1948), directed by Claus Guth, is one of the great successes of the 2017/18 season. Press and audience alike were taken with a production that convinces both operetta skeptics and fans of the light muse: the audience witnesses a film version of the Merry Widow, so that Guth can revel in operetta pathos without restraint on the one hand, but at the next moment also tell "behind the scenes" the touching story of the two main characters, who find themselves in a similar love debacle as the stage characters they portray.
