Adler, Kurt Herbert (1905–1988)

Austrian-born US conductor and impressario. He studied at Vienna, and worked at the Berlin Staatsoper 1927–29 and at the German Opera, Prague, 1929–32. He was assistant to Toscanini in Salzburg in 1936, then moved to the USA, where he held posts with the Chicago Opera (1938–43) and then the San Francisco Opera, where he was general director from 1956 to his retirement in 1981. He was awarded an honorary CBE in 1980.

He should not be confused with his contemporary, the Czech-born Kurt Adler (1907–1977) who also held operatic posts in the USA from 1938.