Otto Klemperer
Klemperer’s performances that we have on record show us that he was a musician who understood the shape of a musical work perfectly. He often chose slow speeds, but the music could sound very heroic. His health problems included manic depression which made him sometimes very difficult to work with. He also had a bad fall in Montreal. From then onwards he always had to sit down to conduct. He also burnt himself badly because he was smoking in bed, and he tried to put out the flames with a glass of whisky which made the fire worse.