Conried, Heinrich

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CONRIED, HEINRICH

CONRIED, HEINRICH (Cohn ; 1848–1909), impresario. Born in Austria, he reached the United States in 1878 after a career in Germany, and directed various theaters. As manager of the Metropolitan Opera (1903–08), he achieved spectacular successes by engaging such celebrities as Caruso, Chaliapin, and Scotti, and producing operas new to the American public. He presented the first production of Wagner's Parsifal in the U.S. in 1903, overcoming the objections of the Wagner family, and in 1907 produced Richard Strauss's Salome, which aroused protests on moral grounds. He returned to Europe in 1908.