Otto Nossan Klemperer (1885-1973) is pictured on this 1985 West German stamp.
He was born in what was then Breslau, Germany, but is now Wrocław, Poland.
He studied at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, and then in Berlin.
In 1907, Gustav Mahler arranged for him to become choirmaster of the German Opera in Prague. He became director of music there.
In 1919, Otto Klemperer married opera singer Johanna Geisler.
From 1907 to 1931 he held several posts, and conducted the premiers of several important orchestral pieces.
In 1933, being Jewish, he joined the emigration from Germany, and took over the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and held.
In 1939 he had a brain tumor operated on, which left him partially paralyzed.
He retuned to conducting in Europe after World War II, and in 1955 Klemperer was appointed Principal Conductor for Life of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has a modest discography and many of his recordings are still available.
For many outside the musical field, however, Otto Klemperer’s claim to fame may be his son, Werner (1920-2000), the actor that played Colonel Klink in the sitcom Hogan’s Heroes (1965-1971).
And though Werner regularly accompanied orchestras by reading narration, he himself claimed to be the one member of his family with no musical talent.
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