Fritz Ludwig Lehmann was born in
Mannheim, the son of an organist and choirmaster. He studied at the
Hochschule für Musik there from 1918 to 1921, and at the Universities of
Heidelberg and
Göttingen. He conducted at Göttingen (1923-1927), firstly as choirmaster and later as conductor of the Municipal Theatre. In
Essen he was head of the classes for opera and orchestra at the
Folkwangschule. He also conducted in
Hildesheim and
Hanover until 1938. In 1934, he became conductor of the
Göttingen International Handel Festival, where he conducted the first modern production of
Handel's
Tolomeo, on 19 June 1938. He resigned after conflict with the
Nazi authorities in 1944. Lehmann was Generalmusikdirektor in
Bad Pyrmont (1934-1938), and
Wuppertal (1938-1947). He returned to the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 1946, remaining there until 1953. From 1953, he taught at the
Munich Hochschule für Musik und Theater. He simultaneously had an active career as a guest conductor in various European countries and Argentina, and led the
Bamberg Symphony on a tour of Spain. During the interval while conducting the
St Matthew Passion in Munich, on
Good Friday, 30 March 1956, Lehmann collapsed and died of a heart attack, aged only 51. Another conductor took over for the second half, the audience not being informed of Lehmann's death until the end of the performance. Lehmann had begun to record Bach's
Christmas Oratorio with the Berliner Motettenchor and the
RIAS Kammerchor, the Berlin Philharmonic and soloists
Gunthild Weber,
Sieglinde Wagner,
Helmut Krebs and
Heinz Rehfuss in 1955. It was unfinished when he died;
Günther Arndt conducted parts 5 and 6 in 1956. ==Recordings==