Lehár, Franz (fränts lĕ`här), 1870–1948, Hungarian composer of operettas. After completing studies at the Prague Conservatory (1882–88), he began a career as a conductor of military bands and settled in Vienna. There, following the success of his first operetta, Wiener Frauen (1902), he devoted himself to composition. He endowed such works as Der Graf von Luxemburg (1909) and Zigeunerliebe (1910) with his engaging melodies, capturing the frivolous gaiety that pervaded Viennese life early in the century. Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow, 1905), his outstanding work, had international success.

Lehár, Franz (Christian)

orig. Ferencz Christian Lehár

(born April 30, 1870, Komárom, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died Oct. 24, 1948, Bad Ischl, Austria) Hungarian composer. He began studying the violin at age 12 in Prague. In the 1890s he was a military bandmaster like his father; by the end of the decade he had moved to Vienna, where he became a popular composer of marches and waltzes. After 1901 he concentrated on orchestra conducting and on composing, notably his 40 witty and melodic operettas that embody the prewar Viennese spirit, including the popular The Merry Widow (1905), The Countess of Luxembourg (1909), and The Land of Smiles (1929).