Klemperer, Otto

Otto Klemperer was born into a Jewish family in the Silesian city of Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). He began studying at the Hoch Frankfurt Conservatory as a pianist, then, following his teacher, James Kwast, he moved to the Stern Conservatory in Berlin.

In 1905 he met and made friends with Gustav Mahler . In 1907, on the recommendation of Mahler, Otto Klemperer received the position of head of the Prague Theater Orchestra.

The next places of his musical career were the city theater of Hamburg (1910-1912) and the Barman (1912-1913). From 1914 to 1917, he was deputy director of the city theater in Strasbourg and chief conductor of the Strassburg Philharmonic. And in 1917-1924 he worked as the head of the orchestra, and then as the general director of the Cologne Opera.

From 1927 to 1931, Klemperer conducted the Kroll Opera in Berlin. Here he gained a reputation as an advocate of new music, as he included in his repertoire the works of Janacek , Schoenberg , Stravinsky , Hindemith .

In the years 20-30, Otto Klemperer toured the USSR several times and made a lasting impression on the Moscow and Leningrad public; one of the Leningrad critics wrote: “When they understood, or rather, instinctively sensed, what Klemperer was, they began to walk on it so that the huge Philharmonic Hall could no longer accommodate everyone who wanted to listen, and most importantly, to watch the famous conductor. Not to see Klemperer means depriving yourself of a large dose of impression. From the moment he entered the stage, Klemperer imperiously captures the attention of the audience. She watches his gesture with intense attention. The person standing behind the empty remote control (the score is in the head) gradually grows and fills the whole room. Everything merges into one act of creativity, in which everyone seems to be taking part. Klemperer absorbs the volitional charges of individual individuals in order to discharge the accumulated psychological energy in a powerful, enthralling and exciting creative impulse that knows no obstacles ... Here in this uncontrollable involvement of all listeners into their art, who lose the line between themselves and the conductor and rise to the creative Awareness of the greatest musical compositions is the secret of the tremendous success that Klemperer has quite deservedly enjoyed with us ” ^[1] .

In 1933 , as soon as the Nazis came to power, Klemperer, as a Jew, had to leave Germany and move to the United States. At this time, Klemperer turned to Catholicism, but eventually returned to Judaism. In the United States, he was appointed conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra ; there, too, he began to concentrate more on the classical works of the German repertoire, and later it was they who brought him the greatest fame, especially the performance of the works of Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler.

After World War II, Klemperer returned to Europe. In 1947-1950 He works at the Budapest Opera and tours with various European orchestras. A serious illness (unsuccessful removal of a brain tumor) interrupted this work. In the mid-50s, he returned to touring, but he worked mainly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra , created by the famous producer Walter Legge at the EMI studio. From 1959 until the end of his life, Klemperer was the chief conductor of this orchestra, with whom he made a number of outstanding recordings.

In the early 50's. Klemperer, enthusiastically accepting the creation of the State of Israel, wished to perform with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra , but was not accepted by him, since he had adopted Christianity in 1919 ^[2] . In 1967, Klemperer passed the rite of returning from Christianity to Judaism, in 1972 he accepted Israeli citizenship.

Otto Klemperer is an unusually thoughtful and deep conductor. This property of him was partly expressed in his preference for a somewhat slower pace. However, it also greatly enhanced the richness of the sound of the orchestra, the special majestic solemnity of the style. The listener's expenses for entering the world of his performing manner were always then compensated by the spiritual height to which he raised with himself, whether it be music by Bach or Wagner. He was devotedly devoted to musical art and can be ranked among the most significant conductors of classical music of the 20th century.

Introduced into the Gramophone Magazine Hall of Fame ^[3] .

• Der Grosse Brockhaus. In 12 Bde. Wiesbaden, 1955: Bd. 6., S. 425.
• Dtv-Lexikon, in 20 Bde, 1968: Bd. 10, S. 176.

• Klemperer Discography