Today is the 150th birthday of Franz Lehár.

Here he is at the piano, in rare footage, with his great champion, tenor Richard Tauber, performing a selection from his operetta, “Paganini” – “Gern hab’ ich die Frau’n gekusst.” In English, it’s been circulated as “Girls are made to hug and kiss.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_ERtrUtrxs

Somehow, with a title like that, I don’t exactly see this music being embraced by a new generation. More’s the pity.

A literal translation would be more along the lines of “I was happy to kiss the woman.” Tauber presents it as “How I love to kiss a girl.”

Can you imagine going to a cinema today and having this offered as entertainment for the masses? And the masses being genuinely receptive? Take me back!

PHOTO: Lehár (right) with Heinrich Reinhardt, composer of the 1901 operetta, “Das süße Mädel” (“The Sweet Girl”)