AUSTRIA

Bronze 1907 Plaque by H.Schöfer.

Franz Lehar (1870-1948)

 To the Austrian operetta composer.

Obv: bust right; below a line of music from "The Merry Widow".
Rev: Plain.

Hauser 7582.
Condition: UNC

Weight: 28.53 g.
Diameter: 30x50mm.
 

Franz Lehár ( 30 April 1870 – 24 October 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian composer.

He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe).

Lehár was born in the northern part of Komárom Kingdom of Hungary (now Komárno, Slovakia), the eldest son of Franz Lehár (senior) (1838–1898),an Austrian bandmaster in the Infantry Regiment No. 50 of the Austro-Hungarian Army and Christine Neubrandt (1849–1906), a Hungarian woman from a family of German descent. He grew up speaking only Hungarian until the age of 12. Later he put an acute accent above the "a" of his father's surname "Lehár" to indicate the vowel in the corresponding Hungarian orthography.

He is most famous for his operettas – the most successful of which is The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe) – but he also wrote sonatas, symphonic poems and marches. He also composed a number of waltzes (the most popular being Gold und Silber, composed for Princess Pauline von Metternich's "Gold and Silver" Ball, January 1902), some of which were drawn from his famous operettas. Individual songs from some of the operettas have become standards, notably "Vilja" from The Merry Widow and "You Are My Heart's Delight" ("Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") from The Land of Smiles (Das Land des Lächelns). His most ambitious work, Giuditta in 1934 is closer to opera than to operetta. It contains the ever popular "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" ("On my lips every kiss is like wine")

He died aged 78 in 1948 in Bad Ischl, near Salzburg, and was buried there. His younger brother Anton became the administrator of his estate, promoting the popularity of Franz Lehár's music.

REF 20 285

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