Klemperer, Otto (ô`tō klĕm`pərər), 1885–1973, German conductor, b. Breslau. Klemperer studied in Frankfurt and Berlin. Working first in Prague, he later conducted the Berlin State Opera (1927–33), introducing new works by Janáček, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Hindemith. With the rise of the Nazi regime, he went to the United States where he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1933–39). Klemperer was celebrated for his interpretations of Beethoven, Mahler, and Richard Strauss. In 1938 he directed the reorganization of the Pittsburgh Orchestra. In 1946 he returned to Europe, where he conducted in Hungary, Germany, and England.

Bibliography

See his Minor Recollections (1964).

Klemperer, Otto

(born May 14, 1885, Breslau, Ger.—died July 6, 1973, Zürich, Switz.) German conductor. After studying composition with Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), in 1905 he met Gustav Mahler, who recommended him for several positions, including chief conductor at the Hamburg Opera (1910). At the short-lived Kroll Opera (1927–31) he conducted the Berlin premieres of many important works by contemporary composers. In 1933 he fled Germany for the U.S., conducting in Los Angeles (1933–39) and studying with Arnold Schoenberg. A brain tumour in 1939 left him partly paralyzed. From the 1950s, though seated on the podium, he created a much-admired recorded legacy with London's Philharmonia Orchestra.