Leinsdorf (real name, Landauer), Erich

Leinsdorf (real name, Landauer), Erich, eminent Austrian-born American conductor; b. Vienna, Feb. 4, 1912; d. Zürich, Sept. 11, 1993. He entered a local music school when he was 5, and began piano studies with the wife of Paul Pisk at age 8. He then continued his piano studies with Paul Emerich (1923–28), and subsequently studied theory and composition with Pisk. In 1930 he took a master class in conducting at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, and then studied for a short time in the music dept. of the Univ. of Vienna. From 1931 to 1933 he took courses at the Vienna Academy of Music, making his debut as a conductor at the Musikv-ereinsaal upon his graduation. In 1933 he served as asst. conductor of the Workers’ Chorus in Vienna. In 1934 he went to Salzburg, where he had a successful audition with Bruno Walter and Toscanini at the Salzburg Festivals, and was appointed their assistant. In 1937 he was engaged as a conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. He made his U.S. debut there conducting Die Walküre on Jan. 21, 1938, with notable success; he then conducted other Wagnerian operas, ultimately succeeding Bodanzky as head of the German repertoire there in 1939. In 1942 he became a naturalized American citizen. In 1943 he was appointed music director of the Cleveland Orch.; however, his induction into the U.S. Army in Dec. 1943 interrupted his tenure there. After his discharge in 1944, he once again conducted at the Metropolitan in 1944-45; also conducted several concerts with the Cleveland Orch. in 1945 and 1946, and made appearances in Europe. From 1947 to 1955 he was music director of the Rochester (N.Y.) Phil. In the fall of 1956 he was briefly music director of the N.Y.C. Opera; then returned to the Metropolitan as a conductor and musical consultant in 1957. He also appeared as a guest conductor in the U.S. and Europe. In 1962 he received the prestigious appointment of music director of the Boston Sym. Orch., a post he retained until 1969.Leinsdorf subsequently conducted opera and sym. concerts in many of the major music centers of America and in Europe. From 1978 to 1980 he held the post of principal conductor of the (West) Berlin Radio Sym. Orch. He publ. a semi- autobiographical and rather candid book of sharp comments, Cadenza: A Musical Career (Boston, 1976), as well as The Composer’s Advocate: A Radical Orthodoxy for Musicians (New Haven, 1981). These were followed by the posthumous vol. Erich Leinsdorf on Music (Portland, Ore., 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire