Clemens Krauss

Clemens Krauss was an Austrian conductor, closely associated with Richard Strauss as friend and interpreter across posts at the Vienna Staatsoper from 1922, the Berlin Staatsoper from 1935 and the Munich Opera from 1937, and he founded the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert. He conducted the premieres of Strauss's Arabella, Friedenstag and Die Liebe der Danae, and co-wrote the libretto of Capriccio, Strauss's final opera, with the composer himself. He married the soprano Viorica Ursuleac. Forbidden to conduct after the war for accepting posts vacated on political grounds, he had meanwhile worked secretly to help Jewish colleagues escape Nazi Germany.