Otto Klemperer

Otto Nossan Klemperer (German: [ˌɔto ˈklɛmpəʁɐ] ; 14 May 1885 – 6 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later better known as a conductor of symphonic music. A protégé of the composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, from 1907 Klemperer was appointed to a succession of increasingly senior conductorships in opera houses in and around Germany. Between 1927 and 1931 he was director of the Kroll Opera in Berlin, where he presented new works and avant-garde productions of classics. He was from a Jewish family, and the rise of the Nazis caused him to leave Germany in 1933. Shortly afterwards he was appointed chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and guest-conducted other American orchestras, including the San Francisco Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and later the Pittsburgh Symphony, which he reorganised as a permanent ensemble. In 1939 Klemperer was diagnosed with a brain tumour. An operation to remove it was successful, but left him lame and partly paralysed on his right side. Throughout his life he had bipolar disorder, and after the operation he went through an intense manic phase of the illness and then a long spell of severe depression. His career was seriously disrupted and did not fully recover until the mid-1940s. He served as the musical director of the Hungarian State Opera in Budapest from 1947 to 1950. Klemperer's later career centred on London. In 1951 he began an association with the Philharmonia Orchestra. By that time better known for his readings of the core German symphonic repertoire than for experimental modern music, he gave concerts and made almost 200 recordings with the Philharmonia and its successor, the New Philharmonia, until his retirement in 1972. His approach to Mozart was not universally liked, being thought of by some as heavy, but he became widely considered the most authoritative interpreter of the symphonies of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler.

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem Vol. 3 Mozart - the late Symphonies (Live) - 2026-03-06T00:00:00.000000Z

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem Vol. 3 Mozart - the late Symphonies (Live) - 2026-03-06T00:00:00.000000Z

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem Vol. 2 Mahler Symphony No. 9 (Live) - 2026-02-06T00:00:00.000000Z

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem Vol. 2 Mahler Symphony No. 9 (Live) - 2026-02-06T00:00:00.000000Z

Klemperer: Symphonies Nos. 2 - 4, String Quartets Nos. 3 & 7 (Remastered) - 2025-11-21T00:00:00.000000Z

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem, Vol. 1 (Remastered 2025) [Live] - 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000000Z

Otto Klemperer in Jerusalem Vol. 1 Weber-Schubert-Mozart (Live) - 2025-11-07T00:00:00.000000Z

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 7 & 8, Leonore Overtures Nos. 1 - 3 & Fidelio's Overture (Remastered) - 2025-10-20T00:00:00.000000Z

Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 6 "Pastoral", Coriolan Overture, Overture from Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus & Grosse Fuge (Remastered) - 2025-09-25T00:00:00.000000Z

Beethoven: The 9 Symphonies & Overtures (Remastered) - 2025-09-22T00:00:00.000000Z

Beethoven: The 5 Piano Concertos & Choral Fantasia (Remastered) - 2025-08-21T00:00:00.000000Z

Mozart: Horn Concertos Nos. 1 - 4, Symphonies Nos. 29 & 33 (Remastered) - 2025-08-07T00:00:00.000000Z

"Jupiter" - Classical Favourites by Otto Klemperer - 2025-07-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Wagner Ride of the Valkyries - Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Mendelssohn - 2025-03-24T00:00:00.000000Z

Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Symphonies Nos. 3 "Scottish" & 4 "Italian" - 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000000Z

The Great Symphonies: Mozart, Brahms, Beethoven, Schumann... - 2024-12-08T00:00:00.000000Z

Bach: Brandenburg Concertos & Orchestral Suites - Mozart: Nachtmusik & Gran Partita - 2024-09-18T00:00:00.000000Z

Brahms: The Complete Symphonies, Overtures, Haydn Variations, Violin Concerto, Deutsches Requiem & Alto Rhapsody - 2024-08-26T00:00:00.000000Z

Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn - 2024-04-22T00:00:00.000000Z

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (Remastered 2023) - 2024-04-10T00:00:00.000000Z

Mahler: Symphonies Nos. 2 "Resurrection", 4, 7, 9, Das Lied von der Erde & Other Lieder (Remastered 2023) - 2024-03-20T00:00:00.000000Z

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6 - 2024-03-08T00:00:00.000000Z

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 4 "Romantic" & 7 - 2024-02-16T00:00:00.000000Z

Brahms: A German Requiem, Op. 45 (Remastered) - 2024-02-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Mahler & Strauss - 2024-01-10T00:00:00.000000Z

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