BLECH, LEO

BLECH, LEO (1871–1958), German opera conductor and composer. Born in Aachen, Blech studied with the composer Humperdinck. He was conductor at the Aachen Stadttheater from 1893 to 1898. In 1906 he was appointed choirmaster of the Berlin Royal Opera (State Opera from 1918) and from 1913 to 1923 was its general musical director. In 1924 he became first conductor of the Berlin Folk Opera. Blech returned to the Berlin State Opera in 1926 and remained its conductor until 1937, when the Nazis forced him to resign. He left Germany for Latvia and in 1941 fled to Sweden, where he became conductor of the Stockholm Royal Opera. He returned to Germany in 1949 and once again conducted the Berlin State Opera. Blech composed a number of one-act and three-act operas, the latter including Aschenbroedel ("Cinderella", 1905) and Rappelkopf (1917). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: MGG; Grove, Dict; Baker, Biog Dict; Riemann-Gurlitt.