Biography

He conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic from 1933 to 1939 and took part in the first memorial tribute to composer George Gershwin in September 1937 at the Hollywood Bowl.

He was of German-Jewish origin and fled Germany in 1933 when Hitler came to power.

Orchestral conductor, considered one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century. Although he suffered a number of health setbacks during his life, among them a brain tumor and the loss of an eye, he had a long and successful career.

He became the conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London in 1955, a position he held for the rest of his life. He made many classic recordings with that orchestra for EMI/Angel Records, including what many consider the definitive versions of Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Beethoven's "Fidelio," and Bach's "Saint Matthew Passion." All of his stereo recordings were made with the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Suffered from an intense case of bipolar disorder. His polar episodes combined with the ill-effects of the brain tumor surgery in 1939 lent to erratic and strange behavior, including several affairs, a widely-publicized escape and disappearance from a sanitarium in New York, and being found mugged in a gutter after conducting a concert in Los Angeles.