thumb|Leinsdorf conducting the Czech Philharmonic, 1988

Erich Leinsdorf (born Erich Landauer; February 4, 1912 – September 11, 1993) was an Austrian-born American conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality. He also published books and essays on musical matters.

Biography

Leinsdorf was born to a Jewish family in Vienna, and was studying music at a local school by the age of 5. He played the cello and studied composition. In his teens, Leinsdorf worked as a piano accompanist for singers. He studied conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and later at the University of Vienna and the Vienna Academy of Music. From 1934 to 1937 he worked as an assistant to the noted conductors Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini at the Salzburg Festival.

In November 1937, Leinsdorf travelled to the United States to take up a position as assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. he was able to stay in the United States, and became a naturalized American citizen in 1942. By the spring of 1943, the candidates being considered to take over for Artur Rodzinski as music director of The Cleveland Orchestra included Vladimir Golschmann of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Albert Stoessel of the Juilliard School and New York Oratorio Society, George Szell and Leinsdorf, both from the Met.

Given Leinsdorf's age (31) and limited experience conducting performances outside of opera, questions arose about his capacity for the job. However, Leinsdorf won a vote taken by the Orchestra's board of directors and became the ensemble's third music director, in 1943. Among the most significant developments during Leinsdorf's first year in Cleveland was his intention to schedule the entire season in advance so the Orchestra could promote its concerts ahead of time and reach a wider audience; his desire to have the Orchestra play a year-round schedule — though World War II complicated that possibility; and, finally, the successful negotiation of a weekly radio broadcast on Sunday evenings—allowing The Cleveland Orchestra to be heard throughout the United States, parts of Mexico, and by short wave across Europe, South America, and the South Pacific. More importantly, perhaps, given U.S. involvement in the war, concerts would be recorded and broadcast to overseas American military zones.

In the event, Leinsdorf's tenure as music director was short-lived. In October 1943, he received a letter informing him that his potential draft status had changed—though he remained doubtful he would be called to serve because of a host of health problems. Later in the month, however, he received his draft notice, remarking to the press: "I intend to abide by the orders of my government." Leinsdorf's impending departure left the Musical Arts Association with a major problem: The Cleveland Orchestra needed a new music director.

Although Leinsdorf's service in the Army was only less than a year—he was honorably discharged in September 1944—the Orchestra already had its sights set on his replacement. In November 1944, George Szell, who had been at the Met with Leinsdorf, made his Severance Hall debut to rave reviews. Leinsdorf was still under contract, but he had lost much of his power as music director—compromising on a number of issues, from performance content to recording authority. He returned to the podium at Severance Hall for the last program of the season. As public opinion shifted toward Szell, Leinsdorf submitted his resignation. But after Szell's death, in 1970, Leinsdorf returned regularly to lead The Cleveland Orchestra as a guest conductor through the 1980s.

Leinsdorf was the principal conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra from 1947 to 1955. He came to despair of what he saw as Rochester's insular musical culture, famously remarking that "Rochester is the best disguised dead end in the world!" Subsequently, he was briefly head of the New York City Opera, before resuming his association with the Met.

Leinsdorf left the Boston Symphony in 1969. He continued to guest-conduct operas and orchestras around the world for the next two decades, being particularly associated with the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic. He also served from 1978 to 1980 as principal conductor of the (West) Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Quotes

Bibliography

  • Rosenberg, Donald. The Cleveland Orchestra Story: Second to None. Cleveland, Gray & Company, 2000.

References

  • Two interviews with Erich Leinsdorf by Bruce Duffie, March 19, 1983, and December 15, 1986
  • Oral History Interview with Erich Leinsdorf, from the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library