It was Franz Lehár who brought to the world an immortal masterpiece, Die Lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), the universally acclaimed operetta, in 1905. The libretto, based on a French comedy, contains many additional crafty turns of events and introduced a Balkan background into a carefree Parisian atmosphere. At the party hosted by the envoy of Pontevedro, a small Balkan state in Paris, all the male guests are eager to win the affection of the widow, Anna Glawari, who inherits enormous wealth from her late husband. If Anna remarries a foreigner, her vast fortune would be taken out of Pontevedro. This would force the nation into bankruptcy. Thus, the envoy encourages his first secretary Count Danilo to woo the charming widow for the sake of the fatherland. It turns out that Anna already knew Danilo and they had been deeply in love with each other back when she was a poor farmer’s daughter. The romance ended because Danilo’s aristocratic family objected to Anna’s low social status. Danilo vows that he will never utter his love for Anna to avoid being mistaken for pursuing her wealth, but their love rekindled gradually and Danilo finally decides to marry Anna. Anna announces that according to her late husband’s wills, once she remarries, all property would be deprived. And yet, Danilo still determines to marry her. Anna goes on to say that the deprived property will be transferred to her new husband. Now they can finally display their love for each other whilst the nation’s financial well-being is assured.