Editing Otto Klemperer (section)

===Post-war===
[[File:Hungarian State Opera.jpg|The Hungarian State Opera, where Klemperer was musical director, 1947–1950|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=interior of ornate, traditional opera house, with much gilt and velvet]]
By 1946, Klemperer had recovered his health enough to return to Europe for a conducting tour. His first concert was in Stockholm, where he met the music scholar [[Aladár Tóth]], husband of the pianist [[Annie Fischer]]; Tóth was soon to be an important influence on his career.<ref name=h100>Heyworth (1985), pp. 100–101</ref> On another tour in 1947 Klemperer conducted ''The Marriage of Figaro'' at the Salzburg Festival and ''Don Giovanni'' in Vienna.<ref name=h100/> While he was in Salzburg, Tóth, who had been appointed director of the [[Hungarian State Opera House|Hungarian State Opera]] in Budapest, invited him to become the company's musical director. Klemperer accepted, and served from 1947 to 1950.<ref name=h100/> In Budapest he conducted the major [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] operas and ''Fidelio'', ''[[Tannhäuser (opera)|Tannhäuser]]'', ''Lohengrin'' and ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg|Die Meistersinger]]'', as well as works from the Italian repertory, and many concerts.<ref>Schwarzkopf, p. 176</ref>

In March 1948, Klemperer made his first post-war appearance in London, conducting the [[Philharmonia Orchestra]].<ref>Pettitt, p. 36</ref> He conducted Bach's [[Orchestral suites (Bach)#Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068|Third Orchestral Suite]] from the [[harpsichord]], Stravinsky's [[Symphony in Three Movements]] and Beethoven's [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|''Eroica'' Symphony]].<ref>"Mr Otto Klemperer", ''The Times'', 6 March 1948, p. 2</ref>

Klemperer left the Budapest post in 1950, frustrated by the political interference of the communist regime.<ref name=h100/> He held no permanent conductorship for the next nine years. In the early 1950s he freelanced in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and elsewhere.<ref name=h103>Heyworth (1985), p. 103</ref><ref>Potts, Joseph E. "Orchestral Concerts in Paris", ''[[The Musical Times]]'', October 1951, p. 446</ref> In London in 1951 he conducted two Philharmonia concerts at the new [[Royal Festival Hall]], eliciting high praise from reviewers.<ref>Pettitt, p. 45</ref> The music critic of ''The Times'' wrote:
{{blockindent|Rare indeed are the occasions when great music is allied to a performance that can claim to have taken its measure fully and unquestionably. Such an occasion was at the Festival Hall last night.&nbsp;... Mr. Klemperer's grasp of the music's innermost significance was evident from the perfect fusion which he achieved of its dramatic, epic, and lyrical elements. Here, indeed, is a musician whose emotional intensity is wonderfully matched by an impressive intellectual force – the very combination which the classical Beethoven demands of his interpreter.&nbsp;... Throughout the concert the orchestra met every demand of its inspired and inspiring conductor.<ref name=fm>"Festival Music", ''The Times'', 26 June 1951, p. 6</ref>{{refn|The first concert was all-Beethoven: the [[Egmont (Beethoven)|''Egmont'' Overture]], the [[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|''Emperor'' Concerto]], with [[Myra Hess]], and the [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Symphony]]. The second concert had a mixed programme: [[William Walton|Walton's]] ''[[Scapino (Walton)|Scapino]]'', Beethoven's [[Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)|Third Piano Concerto]], with [[Solomon (pianist)|Solomon]], and Mozart's ''[[Serenade No. 6 (Mozart)|Serenata notturna]]'' and [[Symphony No. 41 (Mozart)|''Jupiter'' Symphony]].<ref name=fm/><ref>Schwarzkopf, p. 177</ref>|group=n}}|}}

After this, Klemperer's seemingly resurgent career received another severe set-back. At [[Montreal]] airport later in 1951 he slipped on ice and fell, breaking his hip. He was hospitalised for eight months.<ref name=h103/> Then for a year he and his family were, as he put it, virtually prisoners in the US because of obstacles to leaving the country, following [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952|new legislation]].<ref name=h103/> With the help of an accomplished lawyer, he secured temporary six-month passports in 1954, and moved with his wife and daughter to Switzerland.{{refn|His son, Werner, remained in the US, where he pursued a successful acting career, while remaining in close touch with his parents and sister, and visiting them in Europe.<ref>Heyworth (1996, Vol 2), pp. 258, 285, 359 and 363</ref>|group=n}} He settled in [[Zürich]], and obtained [[West Germany|German]] citizenship and right of residency in Switzerland.<ref name=h103/>