Otto Nossan Klemperer (German: [ˌɔto ˈklɛmpəʁɐ]; 14 May 1885 – 6 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer. He lived and worked in Germany first, then in the United States, Hungary, and finally in Great Britain. He started his career as an opera conductor but became most famous for conducting symphonic music.

Klemperer was a student of the composer and conductor Gustav Mahler. From 1907, he held increasingly important positions as a conductor in opera houses in Germany. Between 1929 and 1931, he was the director of the Kroll Opera in Berlin, where he introduced new works and experimental versions of classic operas. He was born into a Jewish family, and when the Nazis rose to power, he left Germany in 1933. Soon after, he became the chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and conducted other American orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, and the Pittsburgh Symphony, which he helped organize as a permanent group.

In 1939, Klemperer was found to have a brain tumor. Surgery to remove it was successful, but it left him unable to walk well and partially paralyzed on his right side. He had bipolar disorder throughout his life, and after the surgery, he experienced a severe manic episode followed by a long period of depression. These health challenges disrupted his career, which did not fully recover until the mid-1940s. From 1947 to 1950, he served as the musical director of the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest.

Later in his career, Klemperer focused on London. In 1951, he began working with the Philharmonia Orchestra. By this time, he was better known for performing classic German symphonic music than for modern experimental works. He gave concerts and recorded nearly 200 pieces with the Philharmonia and its later version, the New Philharmonia, until he retired in 1972. His interpretations of Mozart’s music were not always popular, as some found them heavy. However, he was widely regarded as the most skilled interpreter of the symphonies by Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler.

Life and career

Otto Nossan Klemperer was born on May 14, 1885, in Breslau, Province of Silesia, which was part of the Imperial German state of Prussia at that time. The city is now called Wrocław, Poland. He was the second child and only son of Nathan Klemperer and his wife, Ida, who was born Nathan. The family name was originally Klopper but changed to Klemperer in 1787 because of an order by Austrian Emperor Joseph II to help Jews blend into Christian society. Nathan Klemperer was born in Josefov, the Jewish ghetto in Prague, Bohemia. Ida came from a wealthier Jewish family in Hamburg with Sephardic roots. Both parents were musical: Nathan sang, and Ida played the piano.

When Klemperer was four years old, his family moved from Breslau to Hamburg. Nathan earned a modest income in business jobs, and Ida taught piano. It was decided early in Klemperer’s life that he would become a professional musician. At about five years old, he began piano lessons with his mother. He studied piano with James Kwast and music theory with Ivan Knorr at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt. Kwast later moved to Berlin, first to the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in 1902 and then to the Stern Conservatory in 1905. Klemperer followed him at each move and later credited Kwast with helping him develop his musical skills. Another teacher was Hans Pfitzner, with whom Klemperer studied composition and conducting.

Gustav Mahler recommended Herr Klemperer as an outstanding musician who, despite his youth, was already very experienced and well-suited for a career as a conductor. Mahler guaranteed that any trial appointment would be successful and offered to provide more information if needed.

In 1905, Klemperer met Gustav Mahler during a rehearsal of Mahler’s Second Symphony in Berlin. Oskar Fried conducted, and Klemperer was assigned to lead the off-stage orchestra. Later, Klemperer created a piano version (now lost) of the symphony and played it for Mahler in Vienna in 1907. Between these events, Klemperer made his public conducting debut in May 1906, taking over from Fried after the first night of a fifty-performance run of Max Reinhardt’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld at the New Theatre in Berlin.

Mahler wrote a short letter of recommendation for Klemperer, which he kept for the rest of his life. Because of Mahler’s support, Klemperer was appointed chorus master and assistant conductor at the New German Theatre in Prague in 1907.

From Prague, Klemperer became assistant conductor at the Hamburg State Opera (1910–1912), where sopranos Lotte Lehmann and Elisabeth Schumann made their joint debuts under his direction. His first position as chief conductor was at Barmen (1912–1913), followed by a role as deputy conductor at the Strasbourg Opera (1914–1917) under Hans Pfitzner. From 1917 to 1924, he was chief conductor of the Cologne Opera. During his time in Cologne, he married Johanna Geisler, a singer in the opera company, in 1919. She was a Christian, and he had converted from Judaism. He practiced Roman Catholicism until 1967, when he returned to Judaism. The couple had two children: Werner, who became an actor, and Lotte, who later became Klemperer’s assistant and caregiver. Johanna continued her operatic career, sometimes performing in shows conducted by her husband. She retired from singing by the mid-1930s. The couple remained close until her death in 1956.

In 1923, Klemperer refused an invitation to become musical director of the Berlin State Opera, succeeding Leo Blech. He declined because he believed he would not have enough artistic control over productions. The following year, he became conductor at the Prussian State Theatre in Wiesbaden (1924–1927), a smaller theatre but one where he had the authority he wanted over staging. There, he conducted new and often modern productions of operas such as The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, Fidelio, Lohengrin, Elektra, and The Soldier’s Tale. He later described this period as the happiest of his career.

Klemperer visited Russia in 1924, conducting during a six-week stay. He returned each year until 1936. In 1926, he made his American debut, succeeding Eugene Goossens as guest conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra. During his eight-week engagement, he performed Mahler’s Ninth Symphony and Janáček’s Sinfonietta for the first time in the United States.

In 1927, a new opera company was created in Berlin to complement the State Opera, focusing on new works and innovative productions. Officially named the Staatsoper am Platz der Republik, it was more commonly known as the Kroll Opera. Leo Kestenberg, head of the Prussian Ministry of Culture, suggested Klemperer as its first director. Klemperer accepted a ten-year contract with the condition that he could conduct orchestral concerts in the theatre and hire his preferred stage designers.

Klemperer’s biographer, Peter Heyworth, described his time at the Kroll Opera as "of crucial significance in his career and the development of opera in the first half of the 20th century." He introduced many new musical works in both concert and operatic performances. When asked which operas were most important during his time at the Kroll, Klemperer listed several.

Heyworth noted that the modern approach to staging at the Kroll, such as a stylized production of Der fliegende Holländer in 1929, was "a decisive forerunner of Wieland Wagner’s innovations at Bayreuth." This production received mixed reviews, with some calling it "a new outrage" and others praising it as "a fresh wind" that "blew tinsel and cobwebs away."

In 1929, Klemperer made his British debut, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra in the first London performance of Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony. British critics gave the symphony a lukewarm reception but praised Klemperer for his "power of a dominating personality," "masterful control," and as

Compositions

Klemperer said, "I am mainly a conductor who also composes. Naturally, I would be glad to be remembered as a conductor and as a composer." German conductors of his generation began their careers when it was rare for a conductor not to compose: composition was seen as part of the traditional training of a kapellmeister. He began composing at an early age and started writing songs in his mid-teens. He extensively revised some of his compositions and destroyed others.

Hearing Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande in Prague in 1908 changed Klemperer's compositional ideas. He later viewed the music he composed after that as his first mature works. He continued to write songs, both orchestral and with piano—there were about 100 in total—and in about 1915 he wrote two operas, Wehen (meaning "labour pains") and Das Ziel (The Goal). Neither was publicly staged, although the composer conducted a private concert performance of Das Ziel in Berlin in 1931. The "Merry Waltz" from the latter is the best-known of his compositions. Of his nine string quartets, eight survive. EMI recorded the Seventh in 1970. In 1919 he composed a Missa Sacra for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, and also a setting of Psalm 23.

Klemperer gave the premiere of his First Symphony with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam in 1961, and that of the final version of his Second with the New Philharmonia in 1969, recording it for EMI a few weeks later. He wrote six symphonies. Harold Schonberg, music critic of The New York Times, said that the First Symphony, with its incorporation of the Marseillaise in the second movement, "sounded like Charles Ives in one of his wilder moments." When the recording of the Second Symphony was issued in 1970, the critic Edward Greenfield wrote, "There is a gritty quality about much of Klemperer's fast music [with] sharp-edged unison passages… but give Klemperer a slow tempo and he will melt with amazing rapidity… the slow movement is astonishingly sweet, with one passage—clarinet over pizzicato strings—recalling the world of Lehár or even Viennese café music." The critic Meirion Bowen wrote of the same work that it was "the product of an outstanding conductor musing on the works of composers he has championed throughout his career."

Recordings

Klemperer did not enjoy recording, but his collection of recordings is extensive. His first recording was an acoustic version of the slow part of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony, made for Polydor in 1924 with the Staatskapelle Berlin. His early recordings include Beethoven symphonies and other works, such as the first recording of Ravel's Alborada del gracioso and "Nuages" and "Fêtes" from Debussy's Nocturnes (1926). Later, between recordings of mostly German classical music—works by Brahms, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Richard Strauss, and Wagner—he also recorded lighter French pieces, such as the overtures to Fra Diavolo and La belle Hélène (1929).

During his time in Los Angeles, only one studio recording was made specifically for the label. However, several recordings of live radio performances were made, including symphonies by Beethoven, Bruckner, and Dvořák, as well as parts from operas by Gounod, Massenet, Puccini, and Verdi. No commercial studio recordings were made during Klemperer's time in Budapest. However, live performances in the opera house or on radio were recorded and later released on CD, including complete sets of Lohengrin, Fidelio, The Magic Flute, The Tales of Hoffmann, Die Meistersinger, and Così fan tutte, all performed in Hungarian.

For the Vox label, Klemperer recorded several sets in Vienna in 1951, including Beethoven's Missa solemnis, praised by Legge as "grave and powerful." In the same year, his radio performances of Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and Second Symphony, with soloists Jo Vincent and Kathleen Ferrier, were recorded and later released on disc by Decca. During the 1950s, many live radio broadcasts conducted by Klemperer were recorded and later published on CD, with orchestras such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Concertgebouw, Cologne Radio Symphony, RIAS Symphony, Berlin, and the Vienna Symphony.

In October 1954, Klemperer made the first of many recordings with the Philharmonia, including Mozart's Jupiter Symphony. The Gramophone described the performance as "extremely impressive … epic," noting it was "carried through unfalteringly to the end." Between 1954 and 1972, Klemperer conducted the Philharmonia and its successor, the New Philharmonia, in recordings of nearly 200 different works. With the original Philharmonia, he recorded more Mozart symphonies, complete cycles of Beethoven and Brahms symphonies, and symphonies by Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Schumann, Bruckner, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler, as well as other orchestral works by Bach, Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Wagner, and Weill.

From the choral repertoire, Klemperer and the Philharmonia Chorus and Orchestra recorded Bach's St Matthew Passion, Handel's Messiah, and Brahms's German Requiem. His complete opera recordings with the Philharmonia included Fidelio and The Magic Flute. Solo singers in these recordings included Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Gottlob Frick, Christa Ludwig, Peter Pears, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Jon Vickers.

After the orchestra reorganized as the New Philharmonia in 1964, Klemperer recorded extensively with them in the studio, including eight symphonies by Haydn, three by Schumann, four by Bruckner, and two by Mahler. A complete cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos featured Daniel Barenboim as soloist. Major choral recordings included Beethoven's Missa solemnis and Bach's B minor Mass. Alec Robertson praised the Missa solemnis as "a recording that must take its place on the heights among the greatest recordings of our time." The B minor Mass received mixed reviews: Robertson called it "a spiritual experience … a glorious achievement," while The Stereo Record Guide found it "disappointing … with plodding tempi." Four complete operas were recorded: Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Der fliegende Holländer, and The Marriage of Figaro. Soloists included, among others, Janet Baker, Teresa Berganza, Mirella Freni, Anja Silja, Elisabeth Söderström, Theo Adam, Gabriel Bacquier, Geraint Evans, Nicolai Gedda, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.

Honours, legacy and reputation

In 1933, Klemperer was given the Goethe Medal by President Hindenburg in Berlin. In 1966, he received the Leipzig Orchestral Nikisch Prize. He also held honorary degrees from Occidental College and the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1971, he was named an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. From Germany, he was awarded the Grand Medal of Merit with Star in 1958 and the Order of Merit in 1967.

The first movement from Klemperer's 1959 Philharmonia recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was chosen by NASA to be included on the Voyager Golden Record. This record was sent into space on the Voyager spacecraft. It contained sounds and images meant to show the variety of life and culture on Earth.

In 1973, Lotte Klemperer gave the Royal Academy of Music a collection of her father's books, marked-up scores, a portrait, and some of his batons. This collection is now called the Otto Klemperer Collection. One of the academy's two named professorships in conducting is the Klemperer Chair. As of 2023, this chair is held by Semyon Bychkov.

When Klemperer died, Joseph McLellan, a music critic for The Washington Post, wrote, "An age of giants has ended… They are all gone: Toscanini, Walter, Furtwängler, Beecham, Szell, Reiner, and now Klemperer." The Times noted that in Britain, Klemperer was thought to be the greatest living conductor. According to Grove's Dictionary, after Toscanini retired in April 1954 and Furtwängler died seven months later, Klemperer was "generally accepted as the most authoritative interpreter of the central Austro-German repertory."

Some musicians disagreed with Klemperer's approach to conducting Mozart. Sir Neville Cardus of The Guardian wrote, "It was not for him the gallant Mozart presented by Sir Thomas Beecham; far from it. Klemperer's Mozart was made of sterner stuff." Mann criticized Klemperer's direction of The Marriage of Figaro as "didactic, humourless, tortoise-like," though Stanley Sadie noted that "Klemperer's leisured, cool, almost dispassionate view of the opera is not without its attractiveness… The deliberation and the poise are not what we are used to in Figaro, and they say something about it which is worth hearing." Klemperer's tempi, or the speed at which he conducted, were often criticized as too slow in his later years. The EMI producer Suvi Raj Grubb wrote:

Cardus expressed regret that Klemperer had too rarely been allowed to programme Bruckner, "whose symphonies he encompassed with a grip and a vision which saw the end of a large musical shape in the beginning." Cardus added:

Klemperer became most celebrated as a conductor of Beethoven. The Record Guide praised the 1951 recording of the Missa solemnis, saying, "It is seldom that we hear in the concert hall a performance so clear, so fervent and so musical as that which Klemperer has achieved… [with] the impression of sublimity achieved by this splendid performance." Of his recording of the Fifth Symphony, the same writers called it "a really individual reading," preferable to those of Toscanini, Walter, or Erich Kleiber: "Klemperer treats the work as if he had just discovered its greatness, illuminating every page with a ceaseless care for detail." Mann wrote of the 1962 recording of Fidelio, "the performance is so stunning that after it operagoers may almost despair of hearing a Fidelio that will not prove a disappointment." The Philharmonia's first horn, Alan Civil, said, "It took a Klemperer to throw fresh light on Beethoven, and I found his Beethoven cycles marvellous. I mean, I don't want to play Beethoven with any other conductor," and a colleague from the orchestra said, "It's as though Beethoven himself were standing there."

Notes, references and sources

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• Cook, Susan C. (1988). Opera for a New Republic. Ann Arbor: UMI Research Press. ISBN 978-0-83571-811-0.
• Furlong, William Barry (1974). Season with Solti: A Year in the Life of the Chicago Symphony. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-02542-000-7.
• Haltrecht, Montague (1975). The Quiet Showman: Sir David Webster and the Royal Opera House. London: Collins. ISBN 978-0-00211-163-8.
• Heyworth, Peter (1985) [1973]. Conversations with Klemperer (second ed.). London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-57113-561-5.
• Heyworth, Peter (1996) [1983]. Otto Klemperer: Volume 1, 1885–1933. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52149-509-7.
• Heyworth, Peter (1996). Otto Klemperer: Volume 2, 1933–1973. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52124-488-6.
• Hunt, John; Pettitt, Stephen (2009). Philharmonia Orchestra: Complete Discography 1945–1987. London: Travis and Emery. ISBN 978-1-90685-716-5.
• Johnson, Noel D.; Mark Koyama (2019). Persecution and Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-10842-502-5.
• Keene, Ann T. (1990). "Klemperer, Otto". In American National Biography. Vol. 12. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19520-635-7.
• Keller, Hans (1957). "Otto Klemperer". In Keller, Hans; Donald Mitchell (eds.). Milein Cosman: Musical Sketchbook. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer. OCLC 3225493.
• Kennedy, Michael (1971). Barbirolli, Conductor Laureate: The Authorised Biography. London: MacGibbon and Key. ISBN 978-0-26163-336-0.
• Lebrecht, Norman (1998). Mahler Remembered. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-57114-692-5.
• March, Ivan, ed. (1967). The Great Records. Blackpool: Long Playing Record Library. OCLC 555041974.
• March, Ivan, ed. (1977). The Penguin Stereo Record Guide (second ed.). London: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14046-223-4.
• Nichols, Roger (2011). Ravel. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-30010-882-8.
• Osborne, Charles; Ken Thomson (1980). Klemperer Stories: Anecdotes, Sayings and Impressions of Otto Klemperer. London: Robson Books. ISBN 978-0-86051-098-7.
• Osborne, Richard (1998). Herbert von Karajan. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 978-0-70116-714-1.
• Pettitt, Stephen (1985). Philharmonia Orchestra: A Record of Achievement 1945–1985. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 978-0-70902-