The German-born conductor Otto Klemperer, a towering figure in the musical history of the 20th century, died at the age of 88 on 6 July 1973, so 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of his death.

From 1951 to 1971 Klemperer was closely linked with London’s Philharmonia (later New Philharmonia) Orchestra. This period established him as the “grand old man” of the Austro-German symphonic repertoire. Crucial to his global reputation during this period (and after his death) were the many recordings that he conducted for EMI between 1954 and 1971. These were primarily of orchestral music, but also included operas and large-scale vocal/choral works.

Made principally under the guidance of producer Walter Legge, who founded the Philhamonia Orchestra in 1945, these recordings form the main component of the two-box Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Edition, for release in 2023. A number of them are considered landmarks of the catalogue.

The 95-CD Complete Symphonic Recordings is the first of two boxes that together will form Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Edition. The Edition assembles all the Klemperer recordings in the Warner Classics catalogue; they were originally made for EMI Columbia, HMV, Electrola and Parlophone.

While the vast majority of the Complete Symphonic Recordings originate from Klemperer’s period with the  Philharmonia/New Philharmonia Orchestra, the box also includes recordings made in Berlin in the late 1920s, and in the 1960s with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française and Symphonie-Orchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

The second box in the Edition, dedicated to Operas & Sacred Works on c.30 CDs, is scheduled for release in October or November 2023.

All the recordings in Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Edition have been remastered in HD 192/24 by Art et Son Studio, Annecy from original tapes (in the case of LPs) or the best available source available (in the case of 78RPM recordings).

In 1985 the New York Times wrote: “The late Otto Klemperer literally embodied a vast amount of 20th-century musical history … there remains a tension, and a sense of architectural command, to his finest recordings that … takes the listener to the heart of the music … Beethoven's Fifth Symphony … is such a familiar piece by now that it is almost impossible to hear it with fresh ears. But one listens to Klemperer's performance breathlessly; one knows exactly what notes are coming next, but rarely do they feel so right, so inevitable and strong.”

The American author Joseph Horowitz has written that: “Klemperer’s most characteristic performances, rigorously projecting outward design, amassed a magisterial poise and weight.”

Shortly after Klemperer’s death, the New York Times reported that: “Mr. Klemperer, at the head of his Philharmonia Orchestra, was known as a rock of integrity and moral authority in his conducting. His measured tempos and inspired literalness, his iron insistence on correct performance, brought new meanings to his readings of Beethoven, Mahler and others … His conducting was marked by a strict observance of the text. He was never interested in obvious or flashy effects, and was always in complete command of the orchestra, He had a wonderful sense of orchestral balance, and tried with all his power to communicate the central essence of the music.”

Walter Legge, writing in Gramophone in 1974, stated that: “Klemperer’s main preoccupations were with form and with clarity of musical structure … He had little interest in sensuous beauty of sound … Musicianship, rhythm, solidity of sound, steady tempi, accuracy of note-values and clarity of texture were all he asked …. He was all intellectual power and granite will.” Legge had first experienced Klemperer’s conducting, in 1926 at the opera house in Wiesbaden; he wrote that: “His performances of Fidelio and Don Giovanni were revelations.” (Klemperer’s 1960s EMI recordings of both operas will be included in the second box of Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Edition.)

Aspects of Klemperer’s career were dramatic and traumatic. Mentored as a young man by Gustav Mahler, he became a prominent figure in the avant garde in 1920s Berlin before being forced into exile by the Nazis. A sometimes wilful and abrasive character, he went on to live and work between the USA and Europe, often leading a financially precarious existence and repeatedly suffering and overcoming setbacks caused by his physical and mental health (notably, in 1939 a brain tumour left him partially paralysed and he suffered from bipolar disorder throughout his life), and by debilitating accidents. He was also active as a composer, and Otto Klemperer: The Warner Classics Edition includes his Symphony no.2 and String Quartet no.7, works written in the latter part of his career that show the lasting influence of Mahler and Hindemith.

Otto Klemperer was born to Jewish parents in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Poland) in 1885.

He grew up in Hamburg and studied at conservatories in Frankfurt and Berlin, where he took lessons in conducting and composition with Hans Pfitzner. He made his professional debut in 1906, conducting Max Reinhardt’s Berlin production of Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers.

He impressed Mahler during encounters in both Berlin and Vienna and this led the Austrian composer to recommend him for conducting posts at opera houses in Prague (1907) and subsequently in Hamburg (1910).

Between 1913 and 1927 Klemperer held conducting appointments in Bremen, Strasbourg and Cologne, where he led first performances of works by such composers as Korngold, Schreker and Zemlinsky and the first German performance of of Janáček’s Kát’a Kabanová. In the 1920s and early 1930s his guest engagements took him to Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Moscow, Leningrad, London, New York and Buenos Aires.

Of lasting significance were his four years (1927-31) in charge of Berlin’s newly established Kroll Opera, a progressive theatre which promoted contemporary works by such composers as Hindemith, Janáček, Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Weill. The Kroll Opera closed in 1931 and Klemperer then conducted at the Berlin Staatsoper until 1933, the year Hitler came to power.

After periods based in Vienna and Switzerland, Klemperer settled in Los Angeles, where he had been appointed music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, a post he held till 1939. He also worked with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  

After World War II, Klemperer returned to Europe, guest-conducting around the continent and spending three years as chief conductor at the Budapest Opera (1947-50).

In 1951 the “Philharmonia era” of Klemperer’s career was inaugurated with two concerts in London for the Festival of Britain. (He had previously appeared with the orchestra in 1948.) In 1959 he was appointed the Philharmonia’s Conductor for Life. Acknowledged as one of the great musical figures of his time, he also led performances at London’s Royal Opera House (Fidelio, Die Zauberflöte, Lohengrin) and appeared as a guest conductor with leading orchestras in such musical centres as Vienna, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Amsterdam and, in the 1950s, in many other cities around Europe.

Klemperer had become an American citizen in 1940, but he regained his German citizenship and then settled in Zurich in 1954. He had converted to Catholicism on his marriage in 1919, but returned to Judaism in 1967 and in 1970 accepted Israeli citizenship.

Klemperer died in Zurich on 8 July 1973.

The vast majority of music in the collection is by major composers of the Austro-German school, dating from the latter 18th to the early 20th century; but, as the full list of composers demonstrates, the repertoire extends to other national schools and periods.

A world-premiere release – never previously available in any format – is Hindemith’s Horn Concerto no.1: I. Moderately fast, with Dennis Brain (horn) and the Philharmonia Orchestra (recorded in October 1954).

Released in stereo for the first time is Beethoven’s Symphony no.7 in A major with the Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded in 1955.

Among the most consistently admired recordings in the collection are:
- Beethoven: Symphonies 1-9
- Beethoven: Piano Concertos 1-5 with Daniel Barenboim
- Brahms: Symphonies 1-4
- Bruckner: Symphonies 4-9
- Mahler: Symphonies nos. 2, 4, 7 & 9
- Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
- Wagner: Overtures & Preludes

There is a bonus documentary CD made by Jon Tolansky, containg interviews with Peter Andry, Lionel Bentley, Donald Davidson, Gillian Eastwood, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Martyn Jones, Otto Klemperer, Gareth Morris, Siva Oke, Dame Joan Sutherland, Robert Tear and Basil Tschaikov. All the interviews in this documentary were recorded by Jon Tolansky and date from between 1989 and 2022. They were all made in London, except for the interview with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, which was made in Berlin. Many of these interviews are being heard here for the very first time.

The recording of Otto Klemperer speaking was made by EMI at the Dorchester Hotel in London on the occasion of a reception celebrating his 75th birthday in 1960. It was previously included in EMI’s documentary “Otto Klemperer – A Biographical Memoir”, published in 2013.