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Otto Klemperer (May 14, 1885
– July 6, 1973) was a
German-born conductor and
composer. He is widely regarded
as one of the greatest
conductors of the 20th century.
Above all, his fame rests on
his interpretations of Germanic
repertoire.
Klemperer was born in Breslau,
then in Prussia, now Wrocław,
Poland. He took United States
citizenship in 1937 and Israeli
citizenship in 1970. He was the
father of Hogan's Heroes actor
Werner Klemperer and cousin to
Victor Klemperer.
Klemperer studied music first
at the Hoch Conservatory in
Frankfurt, and later in Berlin
under Hans Pfitzner. In 1905 he
met Gustav Mahler while
conducting the off-stage brass
at a performance of Mahler's
Symphony No. 2, 'Resurrection'.
The two became friends, and
Klemperer became conductor at
the German Opera in Prague in
1907 on Mahler's
recommendation. Mahler wrote a
short testimonial, recommending
Klemperer, on a small card
which Klemperer kept for the
rest of his life.
Later, in 1910, Klemperer
assisted Mahler in the premiere
of his Symphony No. 8, Symphony
of a Thousand.
Klemperer went on to hold a
number of conductor posts, in
Hamburg (1910-1912); in Barmen
(1912-1913); the Strasbourg
Opera (1914-1917); the Cologne
Opera (1917-1924); and the
State Opera in Wiesbaden
(1924-1927).
From 1927 to 1931, he was
conductor at the Kroll Opera in
Berlin. In this post he
enhanced his reputation as a
champion of new music, playing
a number of new works,
including Leoš Janáček's From
the House of the Dead, Arnold
Schönberg's Erwartung, Igor
Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, and
Paul Hindemith's Cardillac.
In 1933, once the Nazi Party
had reached power, Klemperer,
who was Jewish, left Germany
and moved to the United States.
Klemperer had previously
converted to Catholicism, but
eventually returned to Judaism.
In the U.S. he was appointed
conductor of the Los Angeles
Philharmonic Orchestra; there,
also, he began to concentrate
more on the standard works of
the Germanic repertoire that
would later bring him greatest
acclaim, particularly the works
of Beethoven, Brahms and
Mahler. He also visited other
countries, including England
and Australia.
Following the end of World War
II, Klemperer returned to
Continental Europe to work at
the Budapest Opera (1947-1950).
Finding Communist rule in
Hungary increasingly irksome,
he became an itinerant
conductor, guest conducting the
Montreal Symphony Orchestra,
WDR Orchestra Koln,
Concertgebouw Orchestra, and
Philharmonia Orchestra of
London. He settled in
Switzerland and became the
first principal conductor of
the Philharmonia Orchestra in
1959.
He also worked at the Royal
Opera House Covent Garden,
sometimes stage-directing as
well as conducting, as in a
1963 production of Wagner's
Lohengrin.
Klemperer is less well known as
a composer, but he wrote a
number of pieces, including six
symphonies, a Mass, nine string
quartets and the opera Das
Ziel. He seldom performed any
of these himself and they have
been almost entirely forgotten
since his death.
Klemperer suffered from partial
paralysis which had largely
been brought on as a result of
surgery in 1939 to remove a
tumor on his brain. (The
surgery paralyzed half of his
face.) He also suffered from
severe cyclothymic bipolar
disorder. During a manic
episode in 1941 he was
imprisoned in New York. His
erratic behavior during manic
episodes made him an
undesirable guest to US
orchestras, and the late
flowering of his career
centered in other
countries.
A severe fall during a visit to
Montreal forced Klemperer
subsequently to conduct seated
in a chair. A severe burning
accident further paralyzed him;
it was caused by his smoking in
bed with a glass of whisky.
Despite this, he continued
conducting until his retirement
in 1971. His career was turned
around in 1954 by London-based
producer Walter Legge, who
recorded Klemperer in
Beethoven, Brahms and much else
with his hand-picked orchestra,
the Philharmonia, for the
premium EMI label.
The tireless and unwavering
support and assistance of
Klemperer's daughter Lotte was
crucial to the maestro's
success. His son, Werner
Klemperer, was an actor and
became known for his portrayal
of Colonel Klink on Hogan's
Heroes.
Klemperer died in Zürich,
Switzerland in 1973, aged 88,
and was buried in the
Israelitischer Friedhof-Oberer
Friesenberg in that city.
 Klemperer's
"Eroica" and his tempos in
later years
Many listeners associate
Klemperer with slow tempi, but
recorded evidence now available
on compact disc shows that in
earlier years his tempi could
be quite a bit faster; the late
recordings give a misleading
impression. For example, one of
Klemperer's most noted
performances was of Beethoven's
Symphony No. 3, the "Eroica."
Eric Grunin's "Eroica Project"
contains tempo data on 363
recordings of the work from
1924-2007, and includes 10 by
Klemperer - some recorded in
the studio, most from
broadcasts of live concerts.
The earliest Klemperer
performance on tape was
recorded in concert in Köln in
1954 (when he was 69 years
old); the last was in London
with the New Philharmonia
Orchestra in 1970 (when he was
85). The passing years show a
clear trend with respect to
tempo: as Klemperer aged, he
took slower tempi. In 1954, his
first movement lasts 15:18 from
beginning to end; in 1970 it
lasts 18:41. In 1954 the main
tempo of the first movement was
about 135 beats per minute, in
1970 it had slowed to about 110
beats per minute. In 1954, the
Eroica second movement (or
"Funeral March") had a timing
of 14:35; in 1970, it had
slowed to 18:51. Similar
slowings took place in the
other movements.
Similar, if less extreme,
reductions in tempos can be
noted in many other works for
which Klemperer left multiple
recordings, at least in
recordings from when he was in
his late 70s and his 80s. For
example:
(a) the Symphony No. 38
("Prague") of Mozart, another
Klemperer specialty. In his
concert recording from December
1950 (when he was 65 years old)
with the RIAS Berlin Orchestra
the timings are I. 9:45 (with
repeat timing omitted; the
performance actually does take
the repeat); II. 7:45; and III.
5.24. In his studio March, 1962
recording of the same work with
the Philharmonia Orchestra
(recorded when he was 77 years
old), the timings are notably
slower: I. 10:53 (no repeat was
taken); II. 8.58; III. 6:01.
Unlike the late "Eroica," the
1962 "Prague" latter is not
slow; rather, the 1950
recording is much faster than
most recordings of the work,
even by "historically informed"
conductors.
(b) The Bruckner Fourth
Symphony (Haas edition with
emendations). A 1947 concert
recording with the
Concertgebouw Orchestra has
timings of I. 14:03; II. 12:58;
III. 10:11; and IV. 17.48. The
studio recording with the
Philharmonia from 1963 has
timings of I. 16:09; II; 14:00;
III. 11.48; IV. 19:01. Again,
the 1963 is not a notably slow
performance (outside of the
third movement), but the 1947
was quick.
Regardless of tempo,
Klemperer's performances often
maintain great intensity. Eric
Grunin, in a commentary on the
"opinions" page of his Eroica
Project, notes: "....The
massiveness of the first
movement of the 'Eroica' is
real, but is not its main claim
on our attention. That honor
goes to its astonishing 'story'
(aka 'structure'), and what is
to me most unique about
Klemperer is that his
understanding of the structure
remains unchanged no matter
what his tempo... "
Source : Some
of the information on this page
came from a Wikipedia
article and is
licensed under the GNU
Documentation License.
©2008
www.geneticmatrix.com.
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