Ernst Lert

Ernst Lert (1883, Vienna – 1955, New York City) was an Austrian composer, librettist, stage director, writer, and music historian. He studied music history, piano, and singing at the University of Vienna. In 1909 he was appointed the "regisseur" of the opera house in Breslau where he remained for three years. In 1912 he became the director of the Oper Leipzig where he remained for seven years. In 1919 he took the position of theatre director at the Theater Basel, but left there a year later to become theatre director at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt. In 1924 he joined the staff at La Scala, leaving there in 1929 to become a theatre director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He remained at the Met for two seasons.

As a music scholar, Lert published several biographies on notable musical figures and wrote the book Mozart auf dem Theater (Mozart and the Theatre, published 1918). He also contributed articles to numerous magazines, music journals, and newspapers.

Sources

Dictionary of Music", by A. Della Corte and GMGatti, Loescher, 1956, pag.343