Klemperer Otto: Live In Concert

It is generally accepted that many of the greatest recordings of the legendary 20th century German conductor Otto Klemperer are taken from live performances, and on this 10-CD set he can be heard conducting many of the world"'s best orchestras of the time in some of these performances. Amongst the music here are major works by Schubert, Brahms, Beethoven, Bruckner, Wagner, Richard Strauss, Mahler, Mozart and Bach. The life of the great German conductor Otto Klemperer was marked with struggle and tragedy. He began his career working in Prague, Hamburg and Strasburg, before being appointed general music director at Cologne in 1920. Later, as a result of intense hostility and the threat of persecution because he was a Jew, Klemperer decided to leave Germany and move to America, where he conducted orchestras in Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. During this time as a long-term consequence of a previous fall a complicated but necessary operation on his skull was carried out, the results of which were partial paralysis of his right side, neurasthenia and a lengthy period of disability. After the war he returned to Europe to continue his career in Budapest, but on his return he suffered another fall at Montreal airport. From then on he could conduct only when seated.