Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow)

Opera's greatest romcom glitters on its third outing at the Sydney Opera House. 

Despite some excellent music-making, John Savournin's production is hindered by a laboured New York relocation. 

Glyndebourne's new production of Lehár's greatest work is interpreted with his customary flair and fun by Cal McCrystal. 

Barrie Kosky stages the famous Viennese operetta as a whirlwind spectacle. Marlis Petersen shines in the title role vocally and theatrically. Michael Volle does not live up to expectations.

ENO's Merry Widow is big, brash, and more than a touch juvenile – but it's the most fun one can have at the opera.

Joyful, enthusiastic singing, dancing and music combined for a very entertaining The Merry Widow with delightfully cast lead roles. 

Giles Havergal directs and Martin André conducts an energetic production of Franz Léhar's The Merry Widow at the Grand Theatre, Leeds.

Damiano Michieletto's new production in Venice sets the operetta in the 1950s. 

A conventional and quite predictable staging of Lehár’s most famous operetta was saved by dedicated musicians.

The Gran Teatre del Liceu's revival of a shortened Merry Widow lacking some of the essence of this highly popular operetta.

A funny, original take on The Merry Widow at the Royal Swedish Opera in StockholmHenrik Dorsin rewrites a witty libretto for The Merry Widow to represent a fictitious financial crisis in the Kungliga Operan itself, satirizing the modern cultural scene.

It took a whole act to warm up the audience, but at the end, San Carlo's production of Lehár’s frothy operetta proved convincing

Love, light, levity, life. A joyful performance of Franz Lehár's Parisian operetta offers catharsis in troubling times. 

Marco Arturo Marelli’s extravagant art deco production is one of the most successful productions available at the Volksoper. It's an appropriate and lighthearted choice to celebrate 25 years of Ildikó Raimondi.

A delightfully entertaining and amusing production of Lehár's classic operetta The Merry Widow 

Only the slightest of quibbles with a fun, frothy new production of The Merry Widow at The Met. 

The RNCM's beautiful production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow is the perfect musical accompaniment to the festive season. 

Singapore Lyric Opera’s new production of The Merry Widow, set in 1920s Paris, is weighed down by uninspired directorship. 

The Merry Widow, performed on a summer evening in Vienna should be an unmissable treat - and it was.

Franz Lehár’s favourite haunt was Vienna’s Café Sperl, and with the famous Theater an der Wien around the corner, Café Sperl became the meeting place for the operetta crowd around the turn of the 20th century. The Theater an der Wien was the site of the world première of Lehár’s tenth stage work, The Merry Widow, which met its enthusiastic public on 30 December 1905.

Operettas are not supposed to have plausible plots, yet the seemingly implausible plot of Franz Léhar’s Merry Widow cuts to the quick in the current environment of possible sovereign bankruptcy. A “merry” widow would be rather callous in any case. The saccharine-soaked melodies, however, are enough to keep me still. Long an admirer of the Gold and Silver waltz, I am biased.

What clever scheduling by Opera North. In the centre of Leeds the snow is turning grey and slushy, the temperature is ridiculously low and it's dark before mid-afternoon, but inside The Grand Theatre it's a different story- a story which seems specifically designed to lift the winter blues.

Mariame Clément inszeniert mit Petticoats aus den Fünfzigern am Operettenwalzer vorbei.

Annette Dasch und Daniel Schmutzhard lassen eine der beliebtesten Volskopernproduktionen wie eine Premiere aussehen, auch gesungen und getanzt wird auf höchstem Niveau.

Joie, bonne humeur et confettis pour cette dernière production à l'Opéra Confluence d'Avignon, en attendant le retour du public dans le théâtre à l'italienne désormais rénové.

Grand succès pour le concert donné par les jeunes chanteurs de l'Académie de l'Opéra de Paris : une pépinière de talents en devenir !

Malgré quelques imperfections, cette Veuve Joyeuse mérite qu’on s’y intéresse, ne serait-ce que pour la joie qu’elle distille en cette rentrée plutôt morose.

In der Oper Graz spielt in der klischeefreien Inszenierung von Olivier Tambosi das Orchester zwar eine untergeordnete Rolle, das Publikum wird dafür miteinbezogen. Geboten werden außerdem viel Witz und gute sängerische Leistungen.