Blech, Leo (1871-1958)

German conductor and composer. He was a pupil of Bargiel and Humperdinck, and a conductor in Aachen 1892-98; he later conducted at Prague and from 1906 to 1937 was conductor of the Berlin Opera. He often conducted Wagner and took part in the 1920s revival of interest in Verdi's operas.

Works operas Aglaja (1893), Cherubina (1894), Versiegelt (Hamburg, 1908), Das war ich (Dresden, 1902), Aschenbrödel, Alpenkönig und Menschenfeind (after Raimund, 1903); three symphonies; poems; choral works with orchestra.