Editing Bruno Walter (section)

=== Conducting ===
In 1896, he was appointed Kapellmeister of the Stadttheater (municipal opera) in [[Breslau]], on the strength of a recommendation from Mahler to the theater's director, Theodor Löwe. However, Löwe required that before taking up this position the young conductor change his last name from Schlesinger—which literally means [[Silesia]]n—"because of its frequent occurrence in the capital of Silesia".<ref>{{harvp|Walter|Galston|1946|p=89}}</ref>
In a letter to his brother, paraphrased by biographers Erik Ryding and Rebecca Pechefsky, Walter said that he had "suggested several names, which Mahler wrote down and gave to Löwe, who returned the contract with the name Bruno Walter".<ref name="Ryding_21_22">{{harvp|Ryding|Pechefsky|2001|pp=21–22}}</ref> These biographers add that Walter wrote to his parents that he found that "having to change his name was 'terrible'". They report that Mahler and his sisters "pressed" Walter to make the change of name, and add that contrary to occasional unsubstantiated reports, it "is unknown" whether Löwe's stipulation had anything to do with a desire to conceal Walter's Jewish origins.<ref name="Ryding_21_22"/>

In 1897, Walter became Chief Conductor at the municipal opera in Pressburg (now [[Bratislava]]). He found the town provincial and depressing, and in 1898 took the position of Chief Conductor of the [[Latvian National Opera|Riga Opera]], [[Russian Empire]]. While there, he converted to Christianity, probably Roman Catholicism.<ref>{{harvp|Ryding|Pechefsky|2001|pp=28–30}}: the authors consider it "almost certain" that the denomination he chose was Roman Catholicism, in that Walter is buried in a Catholic cemetery in Italy</ref> In 1899 Walter was appointed music director of the Temeswar, Austria-Hungary (now Timișoara, Romania) Opera, the current [[Banatul Philharmonic of Timișoara]]. Walter then returned in 1900 to [[Berlin]], where he assumed the post of Royal Prussian Conductor at the [[Staatsoper Unter den Linden]], succeeding [[Franz Schalk]]; his colleagues there included [[Richard Strauss]] and [[Karl Muck]]. While in Berlin he also conducted the premiere of ''[[Der arme Heinrich]]'' by [[Hans Pfitzner]], who became a lifelong friend.{{citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In 1901, Walter accepted Mahler's invitation to be his assistant at the Court Opera in [[Vienna]]. Walter led [[Verdi]]'s ''[[Aida]]'' at his debut. In 1907 he was elected by the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] to conduct its Nicolai Concert. In 1910, he helped Mahler select and coach solo singers for the premiere of Mahler's [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Symphony No.&nbsp;8]]. In the following years Walter's conducting reputation soared as he was invited to conduct across [[Europe]]—in [[Prague]], in [[London]] where in 1910 he conducted ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and [[Ethel Smyth]]'s ''The Wreckers'' at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]], and in [[Rome]]. When Mahler died on May 18, 1911, Walter was at his deathbed. On June 6, he wrote to his sister that he was to conduct the premiere of Mahler's [[Das Lied von der Erde]];<ref>{{harvp|Ryding|Pechefsky|2001|p=90}}</ref> he did so in Munich on November 20, 1911, in the first half of an all-Mahler concert (the second half contained Mahler's [[Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 2]]).<ref>Ryding, Erik and Rebecca Pechefsky, "Gustav Mahler and Bruno Walter: A Musical Friendship," Andante CD 4973, p. 31</ref> On June 26, 1912, he led the [[Vienna Philharmonic]] in the world premiere of Mahler's [[Symphony No. 9 (Mahler)|Symphony No.&nbsp;9]].<ref>{{harvp|Fischer|2011|p=611}}</ref>