1870 Born on April 30 in Komorn, Hungary.
1948 Died on October 24 in Bad Ischl.
From playing orchestral violin and active as a military bandmaster in Budapest and Vienna, among other places, he became one of the most successful composers of Viennese operetta, which he brought closer to musical comedy, and later to opera. Main works: The Merry Widow; Der Graf von Luxemburg; Der Zarewitsch; Das Land des Lächelns; Giuditta; and many more. (Doblinger Catalogue)
Best known as a composer of operettas, he studied with his father, a military bandmaster, and from 1882 to 1888 he was a pupil at the Prague Conservatory, studying violin and music theory. On the advice of Dvorak, he concentrated on composition.
After graduation, he played violin in the opera orchestra at Elberfeld. Later, he joined his father's band, the Fiftieth Infantry, in Vienna, as assistant bandmaster. In Vienna, he also free-lanced as a conductor, and in the Spring of 1902, became conductor at the Theater an der Wien in his Vienna.
His opera Wiener Frauen was produced there in November, 1902. From that time, he lived in Vienna, and devoted his time to composition.
His greatest success was The Merry Widow, which was first produced at Theater-an-der-Wein on December 30, 1905. which had more than five thousand performances. At one time, it ran simultaneously in five different languages in five different theaters, all in Buenos Aires.
His works also include sonatas, symphonic poems, marches, and dances.
Web: http://www.bobjanuary.com/lehar.htm