orig. Bruno Walter Schlesinger
born Sept. 15, 1876, Berlin, Ger.
died Feb. 17, 1962, Beverly Hills, Calif., U.S.
German-born U.S. conductor.
An associate of Gustav Mahler , he was long a faithful proponent and interpreter of Mahler's music, giving the world premieres of Das Lied von der Erde (1911) and the Symphony No. 9 (1912). He held positions in Munich (191322) and at Covent Garden (192431), but thereafter he served more often as a guest conductor than a music director. After moving to the U.S. in 1939, he often conducted the New York Philharmonic (recording as the Columbia or CBS Symphony), the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and he was admired for the warmth of his interpretations, primarily of the Viennese school.