On January 18^th-21^st, the NCPA (National Centre for the Performing Arts) production of Die lustige Witwe, an operetta by Franz Lehár, will be staged for a second round. The classic operetta, which is produced under the direction of world-renowned director Hugo de Ana, will show the “Golden Age” of Viennese operetta, to share a love story that took place in Paris, the city of flowers.

On December 30^th, 1905, Die lustige Witwe, a Viennese operetta based on a romantic love story that took place in Paris, premiered successfully at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, grabbing rave reviews from the local audience. In the following days, even taxi drivers in Vienna hummed the waltz from the operetta, and Lehár, who had just cut a striking figure in Viennese music circles, not only created a “golden age” for Viennese Operetta, but reached a peak in his career as a composer. Die lustige Witwe had soon spread in popularity, becoming an excellent operetta that was so fashionable worldwide. In a fantastically creative way, Lehár narrates the romantic love story that took in Paris in traditional Viennese musical language, while the cheerful atmosphere of the whole play is perfected by the performance of traditional European national dances such as the waltz, mazurka, kolo and cancan in rotation.

In January 2017, the NCPA operetta Die lustige Witwe held its premiere, being well reputed by both insiders and outsiders on account of its colourful visual design, exquisite singing and performance, as well as lively dancing. In 2011 and 2016, the NCPA had produced and reproduced its first operetta Die Fledermaus, and held the Classic Operetta Gala, to encourage the audience to become more captivated by the colorful world of operetta. The pleasing, relaxing arias, dances, nice costumes and scenery unique to operetta are also pleasing to Chinese audiences. On January 18^th-21^st, 2018, Die lustige Witwe will be put on stage again at the NCPA, to show a larger number of audiences the distinctive artistic charms of the operetta and create a more festive artistic atmosphere in honour of the upcoming Spring Festival.

In terms of casting, Chinese and foreign singers Elena Rossi, SONG Yuanming, Paul Amin Edelmann, Thomas Laske and SHI Yijie, who performed very well in the first round, will return to the NCPA stage to perform in Die lustige Witwe again. Sopranos Sieglinde Feldhofer and LIU Lian, and tenor Emanuele D'Aguanno will join the operetta for the first time. Sieglinde Feldhofer and LIU Lian will play Valencienne respectively in their own group, while Emanuele D'Aguanno and SHI Yijie will play the French liaison officer Camille Rosillon respectively. It is worth mentioning that the six Italian dancers, who gave an amazing performance in the first round, will appear yet again, to show the audience many traditional and authentic European dances in the operetta, such as the waltz, cancan and kolo.