Robert Heger

He studied at the Conservatory of Strasbourg under Franz Stockhausen, then in Zurich under Lothar Kempter and finally in Munich under Max von Schillings.

In 1932, he conducted the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and one-armed pianist Paul Wittgenstein in the world premiere of Maurice Ravel's Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, after Arturo Toscanini had declined Ravel's invitation to conduct the premiere.

The Berliner played Wagner’s Brünnhilde's last aria and the finale from Götterdammerung, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Bruckner's Romantic Symphony, in attendance of the Albert Speer and Admiral Karl Dönitz.

Historical records confirm that members of the Hitler Youth offered cyanide capsules to the audience when leaving the building, to the horror of Albert Speer.

He lived to conduct stereo recordings, notably a fine rendition of Schubert's complete Rosamunde incidental music in the 1960s, before his death at 91 in Munich.