Evening star., 1948-11-02
More About Franz Lehar

10 the Editor Of The Star:
Your editorial on the death of Franz Lehar
prompts me to write some anecdotes about him
which picked up while in Vienna with our
Army in 1915.
Mr.. Lehar went to Paris on his honeymoon
about the turn Of this century. He took his
bride to dinner at q restaurant, and when he
was presented with the bill, he found that he
had left his purse at home. The headwaiter
trusted him, and when Mr.. Lehar returned the
next day to pay the charge, he thanked the
headwaiter, and said that he would make the
restaurant world-famous The place was Max
inns. It was immortalized in "The Merry
Widow"
About IS years ago, there was an item with q
Vienna dateline. announcing the death of
certain Austrian nobleman. He furnished the
inspiration for the main idea Of Mr.. Lehar's
Count Of Luxembourg" in which Russian
grand duke desires to marry an opera singer
who Is commoner. but knowing that the Car,
his cousin, would not consent, he induces the
Count OF Luxembourg to marry her, and to leave
her ut the altar, 80 that she could acquire the
title OF countess. divorce the count and thus
be eligible to marry the grand duke. The plot
involves the unusual situation of q man falling
hopelessly in love with his own wife, whom he
was performed by the principals sitting on
either side of an artists easel and Joining
hands by punching q hole through it. The
operetta ran for long time in London. It
came to New York in the fall Of 1912, and was
very successful for few months but the New
York performers were nowhere near the stand.
ard Of the Londoners
Mr. Lehar wrote THE Land OF Smiles
meaning China-especially for the late Richard
Tauber. According to an interview in the Stars
and Stripes in 1945 or 1916, he thought that
this was his best operetta. saw 1t performed
IN Vienna in 1916; fortunately, the scenery
hao survived the bombings. It was also per.
formed In New York about the same time, but
1t received very unfavorable criticism Except
Ior Iaubers Thine Is My Heart Alone" with
mwti-lingual encores) and II did not last long.
fefnaps this was due to the Improve.
ments which the producers made In Mr.. lie.
hars "outmoded" music and In the nbretto.
Your statement that Mr.. Lehar created
Prince Danilo IS an ideal sovereign to match
the lovely Sonia" Is . bit misleading.
OanAo IN the original was only count: the
1907 New York producers elevated him to
the rank OF prince Another change was nec-
essary; II you buy the German score of "The
Merry Widow" or If you buy the text OF the
hbretto las did In Vienna two years aso) YOU
VIII see that the name Of the heroine Is Hannah
Glawari. Evidently Hannah did not sound
glamorous enough, 50 her name was changed to
Sonia. Even this was not enough, because last
year saw q performance. OF The Merry
widow" IN which the producer, for some tn
scrutaole reason, called her Xenia
some Vlennese musician once told me that
pefnaps Mr.. Lehar-or the hbretto writers-in-
tended to satirize the now extinct but then
alive, Kingdom Of Montenegro tn The Merry
Widow" believe that the Crown Prince Of
Montenegro in 1916 was named Danilo The
operetta Count Danilo, who sings the song gen.
orally known In America as I'm Going to
Maxims," fits the popular (but, submit, er-
roneous) idea Of = foreign-ofice ofYicial who
serves his fatherland conscientiously by getting
TO the ONCE about pm, staying till about 2. 30
PM, etc. Frp