Franz Lehár (1870–1948) – the Komárno King of Operetta
From his personal life
“I am a boy from Komárno,” Franz Kristóf Lehár was still saying in 1930. He was born on 30 April 1870 as the first-born son of Franz Lehár Sr. (1838–1898), bandmaster of the 50th Infantry Regiment, and Kristína née Neubrandt (1849–1904). His birthplace stood on Lehár Street, on the site of today’s Lehár Park.
The roots of Lehár’s ancestors reach, besides Komárno, also to Moravia and to France. His father was born in Šumvald as a descendant of a French marquis. His mother came from the family of a wealthy master soap-maker and candle-maker with roots in the German Württemberg.
Lehár came from a family of many children, but he was the only one born in Komárno.
His siblings Emil, Eduard, Anton, Mária Anna, Ľudovít, and Emília were born, owing to frequent moves, in various towns of the monarchy, and never experienced a real home. The family lived almost always packed up and ready for the next move. But the children spent every summer with their grandparents in Komárno.
After Lehár joined the army in 1890, he lived alternately in several towns of the monarchy, but most often stayed in Budapest and Vienna. He ended his military career in 1902. In 1906 he bought a villa in the Austrian spa town of Bad Ischl, where he stayed most of the time together with his wife Sophie née Paschkis (1878–1942) until his death on 24 October 1948.
From military conductor to world-famous composer
Lehár spent the first years of his life in his native Komárno. His father’s regiment was transferred to Bratislava, then to Sopron, Cluj, and Budapest, where he began to attend the local grammar school and music school.
After unsuccessful studies, he moved to his uncle’s in Moravia, where he learned fluent German, and in 1882 was able to begin studying violin and composition at the Prague Conservatory.
After his studies, he worked for a short time as a violinist and conductor at a theatre, then in 1889 joined his father’s military band in Vienna. The following year he became a military bandmaster in Lučenec, where he composed his first opera and several pieces. After leaving Lučenec, he worked as a military bandmaster in Pula, Trieste, Budapest, Esztergom, and Vienna. Here he composed many waltzes and pieces, but especially operettas.
His first operetta, Viennese Women, from late 1902, was a great success and encouraged Lehár to further creation.
After the operettas The Tinker (1902), The Divine Husband (1904), and A Marriage from a Joke (1904), The Merry Widow had its grand premiere in 1905 – a key work in the birth of the most famous composer of operettas in Europe.
His works, 28 operettas and 2 operas, reached every part of the world, and in the following half century were performed more than 75,000 times. Several of his works were also performed in his native Komárno.