"The Merry Widow", an operetta in three acts, by Victor Léon and Leo Stein (music written by Franz Lehár). Eiji Suzuki arranged this piece for wind band.
Summary:
It is a great party of the Parisian delegation in Pontevedro, a small Balkan state. Host baron Mirko Zeta invited the wealthy merry Widow Hanna Glawari. He plans to make her marry the (also merry) ambassador count Danilo with the aim to prevent the smashup of his beloved home country. His plan turnes out to be not as easy as expected. The count has stayed up several nights celebrating and first has to be fully recovered. Also, he does not even consider to marry Hanna. Back then he could not marry her, a girl of ordinary circumstances, because his family opposed to the relationship. So Hanna married the courtly financier whose money she now spends in Paris. With more or less subtle intimations the crooning pair spends the evening. Sie is willing, he is subborn, he steps up to her, she pushes him away. Only in the third act, Danilo makes his decision, when he learns that Hanna loses all the money when she marries again. So the count can marry her without being called a fortune hunter. By the way: The new husband gets all the money. We wonder if he will help to solve the fiscal crisis...?!