Lehar was the eldest son of a military bandleader (also named Franz Lehar) in the Austro-Hungarian Army.  As he was growing up within a military environment, his family moved from post to post wherever his father was required to serve so the family atmosphere was always full of music.  His father also dabbled slightly in composition with numerous waltzes and dances for playing with his military orchestra.  By the time Lehar was fifteen,  the perceptions of music and composition were very much a part of his life and at that age he entered the Prague Conservatory where  as well as studying composition, he also seriously studied the violin with the intention of becoming a professional violinist.  Even at that stage, his compositional skills were such that quite a number of people including Antonin Dvorak advised him to make writing music his main aim.

 

His performing career began as a theatre violinist but he was called up into the military in 1888 where not surprisingly, he became a member of his father's orchestra.  Within two years, he made his own mark by becoming the youngest bandmaster in the Austro-Hungarian Army, and he was posted to the only Naval base in the Military, at Pola on the Adriatic.  There, at the tender age of twenty, he had the luxury of having a 110 piece orchestra at his disposal with which to perfect his orchestrational and compositional skills.  Together with a Naval Officer, Felix Fulgari who became his librettist. he wrote his first opera, KUKUSHYKA,  which was performed in Leizig and Budapest, prompting the young Lehar into resigning his military post and embarking on a compositional career.  This proved to be somewhat premature because KUKUSHKA only met with limited success and the royalties from it, weak to start with, soon dried up almost completely thereby prompting him to rejoin the Army.

 

He eventually took over his father's position as bandmaster with the 3rd Bosnian-Herzegovinian infantry regiment upon the retirement of his father.  He was then posted to Vienna which proved to be turning point and a golden opportunity for him.  His first successes came with a string of popular marches and the composition of his 'Gold and Silver' waltz in 1902 and once again he left the military to take up the position of Kapellmeister at the Theatre an der Wien.  His first two operettas, 'WIENER FRAUEN' and 'DER RASTELBINDER'  were successfully performed in Vienna to the point that Lehar chose the independence of becoming a full-time composer.  After a further three years, his operetta 'THE MERRY WIDOW'  was premiered at the Theatre an der Wien on the 30th December, 1905. with great success.  In fact, no one could have predicted the success that followed.  'THE MERRY WIDOW' spread like wildfire throughout German and Europe, Great Britain and the United States, in fact to every corner of the world.  Over the years, it has been made into films and been produced on every medium there is and it is a success that continues into the present.

 

Lehar was by now a very rich man but by no means did he intend to rest upon his laurels.  Other successes such as THE COUNT OF LUXEMBURG', 'GIPSY LOVE' and 'EVA' added to his fame and fortune before 1914.   WW1 brought a temporary halt to his activities but following the cessation of hostilities, Lehars' popularity became undiminished throughout Europe, Great Britain and America.  1922 was a momentous year for Lehar because it brought him into contact with a young operatic tenor, Richard Tauber.  It was a combination which was to endure throughout their lifetimes beginning in 1922 with 'FRASQUITA' and the young Tauber reaching for the stars.  There followed 'PAGININI (1925)', 'THE CZAREWITCH (1926)' , 'FREDERIKA (1928)', 'THE LAND OF SMILES (1929)', 'SCHOEN IS DIE WELT (1931)' and 'GIUDITTA (1934)'.   They were all created mainly for Tauber's voice and each with an endless flow of beautiful songs, duets and ensembles with a special song for Tauber in each, which became known as the 'Tauber-Lied'. (The Tauber Song), with the most famous being Dein ist mein ganzes herz from 'THE LAND OF SMILES.'

 

After the success of 'GIUDITTA' Lehar gave up composition and concentrated on his business affairs, mainly his own publishing company.  He continued to live in Austria even after Hitler's enforced unification of Austria with Germany although he was not interested in politics and with his wife being Jewish, he did his best to keep out of the public eye.  He maintained this position throught WW2 and his only visible presence was limited strictly to occasional music events.

 

After the war, Lehar moved to Switzerland for a short time but his wife died there in 1947 following which he returned to Austria where he died in the late summer of 1948.

 

Lehar's music was filled with a continous stream of melody in the form of memorable songs and duets accompanied with rich orchestrations which have always delighted performers and audiences alike.  Long may it continue to do so.

The Land of Smiles  is a 'romantic' operetta in three acts with libretto by Ludwig Herzer and Fritz Lohner.  It is set in Vienna and China with the heroine, Lisa, being a Viennese girl who marries Prince Sou-Chong, a Chinese diplomat who becomes the elected leader of his Country.  Despite family opposition and warnings of cultural disaster, she returns with him to China only to eventually discover that she cannot adapt to the Chinese culture as predicted. After much heartbreak and soul searching she regretfully returns to her homeland although Sou-Chong desperately tries to keep her, only to realise that he has to let her go.   It is the sort of story that has a particular appeal to the Viennese and the title refers to the Asiatic custom of smiling, whatever may happen in life.   There seems to be a different type of smile for every situation ranging from happiness, sadness, hopefulness, frustration, to disagreement, dislike, annoyance, indeed for almost everything.  Something instantly recognisable in the oriental culture but totally alien to Western ways.  It was originally produced inder the title 'Die Gelbe Jacke'  (The Yellow Jacket) at the Theatre an der Wien on the 9th February 1923 but it was not a success.   Lehar revised it with significant alterations and with Tauber in the role of Sou-Chong, it was again produced on the 10th October, 1929 under its new title, with huge success.  With Tauber again in the role, it was produced in London, New York and back again in Vienna in 1930, with each performance successfully cementing Tauber's reputation.  While it has never reached the dizzy heights of 'The Merry Widow', it remains a firm favourite with 'Dein ist mein Ganzes Herz' becoming the most famous of all the Tauber-lieder.

 

Here are the German-English texts, with a literal English translation as well: 

Richard Tauber was born in Linz in 1892 and studied conducting and composition at Frankfurt before moving to study singing at Freiburg.  He made his debut as Tamino in 'The Magic Flute' at Chemnitz Opera House in 1913.  He was immediately offered a contract to sing with the Dresden Opera until 1922.  Tauber was one of the finest Mozartian tenors of his era but in the mid 1920's he started to move into the lighter world of operetta and formed a long and successful association with composer Franz Lehar.  Apart from his theatre work he also made a number of musical films and eventually settled in England.  In  1947, he was diagnosed with lung cancer but in spite of this, and a collapsed lung, he gave a masterly performance at Covent Garden as Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) on the 27th September 1947.  In spite of major surgery his condition worsened and he died on the 8th January 1948.

 

Anton Dermota was  born in Kropa (Slovenia), and grew up in very poor circumstances. He initially studied composition and organ at Llubljana conservatory and in 1934, he gained a scholarship to study singing in Vienna.  He made his operatic debut in 1934 at Cluj (Klausenburg) and first appeared at the Vienna State opera in 1936 as the first armed man, in 'The Magic Flute'.  His first major role was in 1937 as Alfredo (La Traviata) and he remained a member of the Vienna State Opera for over an astonishing forty years.  He was also a success at Salzburg Festivals and sang in London, Paris, Rome and toured South America and Australia.  He died in 1989.

 

Rolf Björling  (1928 - 1993).   The illegitimate son of the illustrious Jussi Bjorling,  he studied singing in the United States.  His timbre was slightly reminiscent of his father's but the voice was a heavy spinto tenor and much less elegant than Jussi's.  He sang for a time with the Deutche Opera, Berlin, then moved to the Royal Opera Stockholm in 1962, where he remained for many years, singing such roles at Manrico, Calaf, Cavaradossi etc.

 

Joseph Schmidt: please refer to tenors section of Grandi-Tenori.

 

Werner Krenn: please refer to Audio of the Month for May, 2007.

 

Franco Bonisolli: please refer to tenors section of Grandi-Tenori.

 

Charles Craig: born London on 3rd December 1920, he was the youngest of fifteen children. His parents died while he was young and he did not have the means to study singing.  He served in the Army in WW2 and afterwards he was accepted into the chorus at Covent Garden opera.  In 1951, his singing potential was recognised by Sir Thomas Beecham who financed his studies with celebrated tenor Dino Borgioli.  He then toured for four years with the Carl Rosa opera company then moved to the Sadlers Wells Opera Company in London, finally arriving at Covent Garden Opera house in 1959.  He sang in the USA and throughout Europe with the leading singers of that era and first sang the role Otello in 1966. He sang this demanding role for the next twenty years all over the world and in such prestigious places such as La Scala Milan. He retired in 1983 and died in 1997.