He began his career in Munich as an assistant to Hans Knappertsbusch at the Bavarian State Opera.
After several appointments in Essen, Dortmund, and Kiel, in 1934 he succeeded Herbert von Karajan as first Kapellmeister in Ulm.
In 1943, he started teaching conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg where he was promoted to a full professorship in 1955.
He was known for his championing the works of Handel and he was considered an exceptional oratorio conductor.
Today, he is mainly known as the conductor of several commercial recordings of German operettas by Kurt Weill issued from 1956 to 1960 featuring Lotte Lenya.