By Manuela Hoelterhoff [Bloomberg, 21 November 2005]

In a picture-filled house in leafy Rye, a half-hour outside Manhattan, an attractive, very lively blonde in pumps, red jacket, black skirt and gold earrings begins to sing.

I know the song: It's the showpiece in Franz Lehar's eternally popular 1905 operetta, ``The Merry Widow.'' But I've never heard it sung by a soprano who was adored by the composer himself and has a huge photo of the waltzmeister on her grand piano in a silver frame to prove it: Marta Eggerth.