German-American conductor.

Career Summary

Alfred Hertz was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1872. He established a career as a conductor in Europe, but also performed in the USA, where he conducted at the New York Metropolitan Opera for the first time in 1902. Noted for his interpretations of Wagner's music, he broke the ban on performances of Parsifal outside of Bayreuth by performing the work at the Met in 1903.

Hertz was appointed conductor of the San Francisco Orchestra in 1915. He held that post until 1930, after which he continued as a guest conductor. He died in San Francisco in 1942 aged 69. The University of California, Berkeley commemorated him with its Alfred Hertz Memorial Concert Hall.

Hertz is remembered today for recordings of music from Parsifal that he made in Berlin on the Deutsche Grammophon label with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1913 and in San Francisco on the Victor label between 1925 and 1928.

Hertz and the Schenker Circle

Hertz's name is mentioned several times in 1938 and 1939 in the correspondence between Arnold Schoenberg and Moriz Violin, as someone who might help Violin secure a job in San Francisco. Schoenberg wrote to Hertz on behalf of Violin, but nothing apparently came of this.

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