The Merry Widow
25 December, 1968, BBC
Role: Count Danilo

The Franz Lehar operetta, Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow), has wide appeal among musical-theater fans who think they don't like opera. 

Jeremy performed a version of the operetta on television on Christmas Day in 1968 and followed that up with a studio recording featuring the Australian soprano June Bronhill. That performance is available on CD (Amazon U.K.).

The Merry Widow is set at the embassy in a mythical kingdom. The economically challenged country looks to Count Danilo to woo and wed his old flame, the rich widow Hanna (or, in this rendition, Anna). They were in love before her marriage, but his uncle interrupted their romance because at that time, Anna had absolutely nothing to her name. Although they still love each other, Danilo is reluctant to court Hanna just because of her fortune and Hanna vows she will not marry him until he says "I love you."

The liner notes from the CD say of Jeremy: Though not a singer as such, he oozed romantic appeal and knew how to put a number over. The part lies high for him, but he is excellent in his entrance song, (I'm Off to Chez Maxime) transposed down. 

Audio files of two key Jeremy songs: (right-click and save)

In his autobiography, actor Robert Stephens -- Jeremy's best friend --  included two amusing anecdotes regarding The Merry Widow:

"I have never been professionally jealous of anyone, not Brando, not Larry (Olivier), not Robert de Niro ... Except once: of Jeremy Brett. Jeremy is my oldest pal, and when he played Danilo in The Merry Widow on television with Mary Costa, the opera singer, he looked fantastic and he sang beautifully -- after a three month crash course -- he drove me crazy with jealousy."

 

Another time, Robert Stephens recalls a disastrous birthday celebration and the beginning of the decline in his marriage to Maggie Smith: "We all went back to the house to warm ourselves up and drink some more. Jeremy put on his own record of The Merry Widow and was kind enough to start singing along with himself. Maggie was very cross indeed." 

Wikipedia page about "The Merry Widow" // BBC catalogue