Conversations with Klemperer

by Otto Klemperer (Editor)

Book by Klemperer, Otto

Genres: Music

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conducting is such a mysterious art that I like to take any opportunity to pull back the curtain and listen to conductors explain or even just tell stories. I also strive to distinguish the 20th century German (and Austrian) conductors from each other, otherwise they all run together: Otto Klemperer, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karajan, Erich and Carlos Kleiber, Hans Knappertsbusch, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Klaus Tennstedt, Karl Böhm, Erich Leinsdorf.

Klemperer started out as a pianist, but quickly his interest in conducting became paramount. Gustav Mahler gave him his start, writing a letter of recommendation. Klemperer says, "Toscanini was the greatest conductor of his generation, but Mahler was a hundred times greater." Klemperer also worked with the composers Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, Hindemith, Bartok, Schoenberg, and Webern, to mention the most well known. Most of his jobs were conductorships at opera houses, until Hitler took over in 1933 and he fled to the U.S. and was appointed to head the L.A. Philharmonic.

Klemperer had these conversations with the man who would later write his biography, Peter Heyworth.

In 1910 Klemperer sat in the audience as Mahler rehearsed his Eighth Symphony. Mahler constantly made changes. He was never satisfied. "At one point...he turned to some of us in the auditorium and said, 'If, after my death, something doesn't sound right, then change it. You have not only the right but the duty to do so.'

"Those are good words for people who believe a conductor should never touch the notes. All this talk that one shouldn't change a single note in a score is nonsense. Werktreue, that is, faithfulness to the work, is a very different matter from merely using the pure text, isn't it?"

Strauss was "agreeable," "polite and conversational, but also witty." But there was something lacking in his character. He was an opportunist. It often came down to money. As a conductor, "he only made very small movements, but their effect was enormous. His control of the orchestra was absolute." It makes a huge difference when a conductor, like Mahler and Strauss, were composers first. Strauss "really understood how to let an orchestra breathe. He didn't throw himself around like a madman, but the orchestra played as though it was possessed."

"Wagner's operas" were "a magnificent development, a point of culmination. But they led to a dead end. You can't continue on that road better or further than he did. I mean, everything that appears today, for instance Beckett's plays, which I find wonderful, comes from total opposition to Wagner."

Klemperer made friends with Georg Simmel and attended his lectures. This became the source of much of the intellectual stimulus in his life. He had started to read Spinoza's Ethics and Simmel told him, 'Just read the propositions, not the proofs, for they are not made better by the proofs. If you read the propositions carefully, then you will know what you need to know.'

He made annual visits to the Soviet Union to conduct, until 1929, and then two visits in 1936. After a performance of Beethoven's Ninth, Trotsky, who had been sitting in the audience, came forward to meet him. Trotsky had been bothered by the fact that one member of the chorus got to his place late during the performance. Klemperer said, 'Yes, there's a lack of discipline in Russian orchestras and choruses.' Trotsky replied, 'You will never get discipline in Russia. I haven't succeeded either.'

"In my opinion the great thing that Schoenberg taught us is that there is no real difference between consonance and dissonance."

"[Aaron Copland's] music didn't impress me. El Salon Mexico I even find awful. Pooh, I don't like that. The composer who was important was Gershwin." Gershwin was extremely arrogant, but very gifted. A meeting was set up between Klemperer and Gershwin, who said, 'I don't know whether you command the style of my music.' ...'I said, 'I don't know either, but I've managed with Beethoven, so it will probably be all right.'

"The art of conducting lies ... in the power of suggestion that the conductor exerts - on the audience as well as on the orchestra."

"The important thing is that one should let the orchestra breathe. That's the essential thing."

"[Toscanini] was a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. I couldn't always agree with what he wanted, but I admired him very much. I went to his rehearsals and how he achieved that special sound was a miracle. I couldn't see that it had anything to do with any of his gestures. ....About the same time he also conducted some Respighi - I think it is called The Pines of Rome. For me, it is a terrible piece, but his performance was amazing."

Would you rate Pierre Boulez highly as a conductor? "Yes, very highly. He is without doubt the only man of his generation who is an outstanding conductor and musician."

[Spaceysun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otto Klemperer was truly one of last conducting giants. Peter Heyworth asked good questions, and Klemperer gave frank, incisive, sometimes brilliant answers.

The book comes with Klemperer's discography (though unavoidably outdated), index, and detailed fine notes by Heyworth.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book with Klemperer recalling his carer through a question and answer narrative. I really enjoyed the 1st couple of chapters that mainly deal with his recollections of Mahler,Strauss, Schreker and Schoenberg. Some fascinating insights into composers views from conversations he had with them. One of my favourite moments in the book is when Klemperer recounts talking to a catholic historian in Strasbourg in which he asked "Do you think Goethe was a sinner", "Naturally", the catholic historian replied. So i said "Goodbye". One of the interesting facts about Klemperer i didnt know was that he composed a lot of music 6 or 7 symphonies and Mass in C for soloists, chorus and orchestra aswell as a chamber music. Worth a read if your interested in Klemperer or a fan of late romantic music.