Merry Widowby Anonymous

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February 13, 2003: Joan Sutherland,about 70 or perhaps more who can sing superbly, of course, plays a 25-year old widow (and what she was at 15 or so!). This may be OK in opera (perhaps), but not in a Viennese/Hungarian operetta. Not any more than a 70-year old trying to play a 20-year old in an American musical. Anyone who has seen ''Die Lustige Witwe'' in Vienna, or the ''V?g ?zvegy'' in Budapest (Leh?rs home town) can testify to the fact this is a very sad performance. The rest of the cast is fine, and certainly the role of Danilo is superbly done. ''Les Grisettes de Paris'' at maxims are also long in the tooth - is this perhaps Anglo-Saxon feminism that had to destroy the greatest of the ''Silver Age'' operettas in this performance? Ultimately, it is sad.