Kletzki, Paul, 1900-1973

Paul Kletzki was born Pawel Klecki in Łódź, Poland, on March 21, 1900. He joined the Łódź Philharmonic as a violinist at age 15, and later studied at the Warsaw Conservatory with the violinist Emil Młynarski, and at the University of Warsaw. He moved to Berlin in 1921, where he gained the support of Arturo Toscanini and Wilhelm Furtwängler, and conducted the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1925. As the Nazi Party rose to power, he left Germany for Milan, Italy in 1933, and taught composition; in 1937 and 1938, he led the Kharkov (now Kharkiv) Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine. Fascism and anti-semitism in Italy, and discrimination against his Polish heritage in the Soviet Union caused him to leave both places for Switzerland, along with his Swiss wife, leaving his compositions behind in Milan. He took Swiss citizenship in 1949, and enjoyed an active career as a conductor after the Second World War, though he ceased composing after 1942 in response to the trauma inflicted by Nazi atrocities in Europe. Kletzki served as guest conductor with numerous orchestras, and was chief conductor or music director for the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (1958-1961), and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (1967-1970). Kletzki died during a rehearsal of the Liverpool Symphony Orchestra on March 5, 1973.