Leo Blech

• Name — Leo Blech • Born — 21 April 1871 • Birthplace — Aachen, Rhenish Prussia, German Empire • Died — 25 August 1958 • Place of death — West Berlin, West Germany • Occupation — Conductor, composer • Years Active — 1893–1953 • Known for — Conductor at the Berlin State Opera, Städtische Oper, and Stockholm Royal Opera • Notable Works — Carmen (conducted over 600 times)

Blech was born to a Jewish family in Aachen, Rhenish Prussia. After attending the Hochschule in Berlin where he studied piano with Ernst Rudorff and composition from Woldemar Bargiel, he studied privately with Engelbert Humperdinck.

• Illustration — Drawing of Leo Blech by Edwin Marcus for the NY Times in 1923 After working briefly in sales, he landed a position conducting at the Stadttheater Aachen in 1893. From 1899 to 1906, he conducted at the Neues Deutsches Theater in Prague before moving to the Königliches Opernhaus in Berlin. In 1913, he was promoted to General Music Director. Between 1923 and 1926, he took various positions at opera houses in Berlin and Vienna, including the Deutsches Opernhaus, the Volksoper Berlin and the Vienna Volksoper. In 1926, he returned to the Staatsoper unter den Linden, where he remained until Adolf Hitler's antisemitic policies forced him in 1937 into exile in Riga, the capital of Latvia, where he conducted the Latvian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. With an eye to Blech's substantial German and foreign reputation, Hermann Göring, then Hitler's second in command, issued an order to Major Karl Heise, head of the Schutzpolizei in German-occupied Riga in September 1941, to issue an exit visa to Blech for neutral Sweden, making him the only Jewish survivor in Riga to escape as a result of such high-level intervention. During and after World War II, Blech conducted at the Stockholm Royal Opera. In 1949, he returned to Berlin to conduct at the Städtische Oper (Civic Opera), where he worked until 1953. One of his pupils, conductor Herbert Sandberg, married his daughter Luise (Lisel) (1913–2006). • Illustration — One of the first recordings of Blech and the Royal Court Orchestra, Berlin Summer 1916 Blech made recordings of operatic and orchestral music for the Deutsche Grammophon, His Master's Voice, Ultraphon/Telefunken, Decca, and Elite record labels.

Leo Blech is recorded with the occupation general music director. Recorded with the occupation chapelmaster. Recorded with the occupation conductor. Recorded with the occupation composer. Recorded with the occupation musician. Classed in the genre opera. Recorded as conductor, composer, music director and chapelmaster.