Talk:Walter Legge

Jewish?
I don't find any evidence he was Jewish —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.109.185.77 (talk • contribs)

An Amazon search of Sanders' book finds nothing for Jew and one result for Jewish (on page 132):

"... in the press. The only thing that I personally am afraid of is that my willingness to conduct for the Jewish Charity, which corresponds completely with my whole personal attitude, will simply be branded as sheer opportunism, taking advantage of the ..."

which is hardly conclusive. Nunquam Dormio 17:16, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

How about this from Alex Russell? "Karajan's ambition was to make recordings with Walter Legge's newly formed Philharmonia Orchestra - and thus establish his conducting career in London. Later in life Karajan said to Osborne that he would only conduct the Philharmonia providing all the players were white and that there were no Jews, homosexuals or women included." I've no idea on the veracity of this but, if true, it would suggest that Legge was not Jewish. Nunquam Dormio 17:23, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Or it could suggest that Karajan simply did not know, or it could suggest that he was opportunistic enough to turn a blind eye to his prejudices when it suited him (if indeed he had, or expressed, such prejudices). Ondewelle (talk) 10:50, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

User:Jack O'Lantern has resolved this debate, referencing Triumph of the wilful see the final line of this article. Nunquam Dormio 17:45, 24 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Nunquam Dormio: http://www.tagesspiegel.de/kultur/archiv/05.08.2006/2697320.asp (...Und da Legge, der britische Jude, selbst der entscheidende Promotor ...) --Austriangirl 20:33, 12 October 2006 (UTC)


 * The BBC radio 4 programme 'The Archive Hour' 13 January 2007, stated that Legge was half-Jewish.Tim riley 09:03, 14 January 2007 (UTC)


 * You can listen to it online for about the next week. The Truth about Walter Legge —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Nunquam Dormio (talk • contribs) 10:30, 14 January 2007 (UTC).

Walter Legge was my uncle. His sister was my mother. Jewish connection is extremely tenuous - if there at all. My Family research shows that the Legges came from Shropshire and the Legge Ancestors lived in Brosely at least from early 17th Century, where they had a pipe-making business. Other ancestors came to London from: Exeter in the 1840s - one was a Baker; Oxfordshire a daughter of a Farm labourer;Kent- Journeyman Plasterer; other Southern English places with jobs eg House Painter & Shoemaker.During the late 19th Century, Walter's Grandfather became a 'Hot Water Engineer'. Walter's father contracted polio as a young child and led a fairly sedentary life, working as a tailor. He loved books & music. Walter's mother loved Shakespeare. Both had benefited from the expansion of Eduction after 1871. In other words both sides of family had lived in England for a long long time & I haven't been able to establish any Jewish connection. Funnily enough - people often thought my mother was Jewish because she also loved music, had very curly hair & a prominent nose! Stereotyping or what! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Claypipes (talk • contribs) 15:20, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

The Alex Russell quote of Osborne that K said he would only conduct an orchestra without Jews or women was AN APRIL FOOL'S JOKE REVIEW ON MUSICWEB. It was not meant to be taken seriously and readers of this review all enjoyed it as such. Indeed, Osborne is K's biggest apologist, making every excuse for his Nazi past that can be made, and would never have repeated this story even if he had heard it. This part of the discussion is ridiculous. David Altschuler, Los Angeles, CA. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.250.38.126 (talk) 02:50, 20 May 2014 (UTC)


 * Whether or not Legge was Jewish, it does not appear to have been of significance in his life. It should not be in the lead paragraph. Manual of Style/Biographies says: "Ethnicity, religion, or sexuality should generally not be in the lead unless it is relevant to the subject's notability." I will remove it on this basis. Verbcatcher (talk) 06:25, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

I presume there is little chance of finding Claypipes given their profile has been deleted? Walter Legge is my 'great' uncle and it would be very interesting to extend our knowledge of our family from all you have said. D.J.A (talk) 02:01, 4 March 2022 (UTC)

Hugo Wolf recordings
Suggest that the reference to Elena Gerhardt be amended to remove the implicit suggestion that she alone recorded all the Hugo Wolf Society volumes for Legge. She recorded only the first of seven volumes of 78s.94.194.2.163 (talk) 11:58, 11 April 2015 (UTC)
 * Done, with a citation.Verbcatcher (talk) 06:37, 8 December 2015 (UTC)

How does one pronounce Walter Legge's Last name?
For decades I have been aware of Mr. Legge, and though most seem to feel confident in their ability to figure this out, I do not. Off hand I can think of at least 4 possibilities: as leg; as legah; as ledge; and as ledga. I'm sure there are realms of possibilities I'm too unimaginative and confused to contemplate and guidance on this matter will allow the sleep of the innocent once again. Thank you, Bruce Kofoed.


 * I've only ever heard "leg". --   Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  10:03, 26 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, it was pronoucned "leg". Sometimes people in Germany or Austria pronounced it the German way (i.e. as two syllables) but that was not correct. Whether or not he corrected them when they did this, however, I cannot say, but he never attempted, as far as I know, to suggest that this was the right way of saying his name. Ondewelle (talk) 11:32, 9 April 2016 (UTC)