born Aug. 5, 1890, Vienna, Austria
died Jan. 27, 1956, Zürich, Switz.
Austro-Hungarian conductor.
After his Prague debut in 1911, he held a series of posts that led him to the Berlin State Opera, where he was music director from 1923 to 1934. There he premiered important works such as Alban Berg 's Wozzeck (1925). When the Nazis forbade the premiere of Berg's Lulu (1934), he managed to program the suite from the opera for his last concert. After moving to Buenos Aires, he was head of the German Opera at the Teatro Colón (1937–49). His son Carlos (b. 1930) also became an internationally celebrated conductor, especially of opera, with a reputation for perfectionism equal to his father's.