Franz Lehár (1870–1948) was the leading composer of the last great age of Viennese operetta. He was celebrated above all for The Merry Widow, a work that reshaped operetta by melding notes of sadness with a very human sentimentality. Its remarkably beautiful melodies made him internationally famous. He was one of those rare composers whose exceptional gifts made his work expand the boundaries of the genre he chose. In his case that genre was operetta.
Meine Damen und Herren, friends of Classical Archives,
I am Franz Lehár, born in 1870 in Komárom, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire — today in Slovakia. My father was a military bandmaster, and so, from my earliest days, the sound of brass and march rhythms was as familiar to me as the air I breathed. It was in those early years that I learned the power of melody to lift the spirit, to make even the most disciplined soldier forget the weight of his uniform.
I studied at the Prague Conservatory, where my teachers included the great Antonín Dvořák. He recognized something in me — a love for melody, perhaps — and encouraged me to follow my own path. For a time, I followed my father’s footsteps and served as a bandmaster myself, but the theatre was calling. Vienna was the city where music truly lived — and it was there that I found my voice.
When I arrived in Vienna, operetta was changing. The old lightness of Johann Strauss was giving way to something more sentimental, more human. I wanted to write works that made people laugh and dream, yes, but also to feel. My The Merry Widow — Die lustige Witwe — premiered in 1905 and changed everything. I still remember the first night: the waltz themes, the laughter, and the tears. Suddenly, all of Europe was humming my melodies. It became not only my greatest success, but a kind of musical passport that carried my name around the world.
I was privileged to know many great musicians — Giacomo Puccini, whose dramatic instincts I deeply admired; Richard Strauss, who saw in operetta the same craft and seriousness he brought to opera; and, later, the singer Richard Tauber, whose voice brought my later works to life. I wrote Paganini, The Land of Smiles, Giuditta — operettas that tried to blend beauty and heartbreak, comedy and longing.
Even as the world around me changed — two wars, the fall of empires — I held to the conviction that music must bring people together. The operetta, with its laughter and its waltz, can still speak to the heart more directly than any speech or sermon.
I spent my final years by the Wörthersee, in Bad Ischl, surrounded by the peace that had eluded much of the century. It was there, in 1948, that my journey ended. I hope my music lives to carry the scent of Vienna in spring, the rhythm of a dance, and the belief that even amid sorrow, melody can still make us smile.
A Selection of Works by Franz Lehár Available for Listening on Classical Archives
Please note that in order to listen to these works in full (instead of 1-minute clips), you must be a Classical Archives subscriber.
We invite you to join: A free 14-day trial is now available to first-time subscribers.
Operettas and Operas
- Das Land des Lächelns (The Land of Smiles, operetta; revision of ‘Die gelbe Jacke’)
- Der Graf von Luxemburg (operetta)
- Der Zarewitsch (operetta)
- Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow, operetta)
- Frasquita (comic opera, revised version of operetta)
- Friederike (operetta)
- Giuditta (opera)
- Paganini (operetta)
- Zigeunerliebe (Gypsy Love, operetta)
Orchestral Works
Recent Comments