About
Though best remembered for his internationally popular opera, Mona Lisa, this German musician also composed melodramas, concertos, and chamber music. Also a conductor, he headed the Berlin State Opera during the early 1920s.
Before Fame
After attending the University of Munich, he taught at the University of Heidelberg and worked for an annual German music event called the Bayreuth Festival.
Trivia
He taught the renowned 20th-century conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler.
Family Life
His first marriage, to his cousin Caroline Peill, ended in divorce. His second marriage was to the famous operatic soprano Barbara Kemp.
Associated With
An unfortunate part of his legacy is that, while serving as President of the Prussian Academy of the Arts, he expelled Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg and other talented Jewish musicians from the organization.
