Hanna and the gold donkey

Bernd Mottl directs Die Lustige Witwe in Cologne (****) [live]

Elissa Huber als Hanna Glawari © Mathias Jung

When an American armored brigade reached Franz Lehárs villa in Bad Ischl on May 6, 1945, the GIs surprised him in his parlor with a serenade. "The Merry Widow" was not only the favorite operetta of the man with the mustache, it had also been a hit on Broadway for years. A few weeks later, Lehár would tell Kla…