![]() ![]() He was drafted into the military, beginning a long career as a military bandmaster, following in his father's and uncle's footsteps. He studied instrumental performance and composition, and in 1888 was hired as a violinist in a Rhineland theater orchestra. The young Franz studied violin and entered the Prague Conservatory at age 12. ![]() Lehár's ancestry included a typically Central European ethnic mix: his father, a composer, horn player, and bandmaster of note, had roots in the Czech-German Sudetenland, and his mother was Hungarian. The libretto is unusually good, and the story full of romance and wit. Dramatic and vigorous, full of life, it is original and full of melodic invention. Die lustige Witwe had the dubious honor of being Hitler's favorite stage work of all time, but its merits are greater than this recommendation indicates. He expanded the genre by introducing more serious subjects in such works as Eva. That work kicked off a vogue for Viennese operetta in America. He was known above all for his international success Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow). This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.The most prominent figure of the early twentieth century Viennese operetta revival, Franz Lehár ranks among history's greatest composers in the genre. He wrote a single grand opera, Giuditta (1934), which was less successful. Several of his works were filmed, including The Merry Widow and The Land of Smiles. Among them were The Man with Three Wives (1908), The Count of Luxembourg (1909), Gypsy Love (1910), and The Land of Smiles (1923). Many other operettas by Lehár followed and became well known in England and the United States under their English titles. Its success was such that two years later it was played at Buenos Aires at five theatres simultaneously. ![]() In The Merry Widow (1905), with libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, Lehár created a new style of Viennese operetta, introducing waltz tunes and imitations of the Parisian cancan dances as well as a certain satirical element. In 1896 he produced his operetta Kukuschka. Encouraged by Antonín Dvořák to follow a musical career, Lehár traveled in Austria as a bandmaster from 1890.
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