Leo Blech (1871-1958) was a German conductor and composer, one of the important opera conductors of the early twentieth century. He was closely associated with the Berlin State Opera.

In the Pristine catalogue he appears extensively in Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Wagner, including dedicated anniversary releases and early Ring excerpts.

Blech’s conducting belonged to the old German operatic and orchestral tradition: supple, theatrical and rooted in long practical experience.

His page is essential. Blech gives the early German recording shelf a seasoned baton with opera-house dust still on it.