René Köhler
Encyclopedia
René Köhler was a non-existent conductor invented by William Barrington-Coupe
as part of a fraud in which he passed off numerous plagiarised
recordings of classical pianists as the work of his wife, Joyce Hatto
.
because of his Jewish faith. Instead he was said to have taken private lessons with Stanisław Spinalski. In 1940, according to the biography provided by Barrington-Coupe, his left hand was crushed irreparably by a young German officer. According to Barrington-Coupe, he survived the Warsaw Ghetto
but in the summer of 1942 was deported to Treblinka concentration camp which he survived - one of only about less than a hundred to do so.
From 1945 to 1970, Barrington-Coupe claimed, he was a prisoner in the Soviet Union
.
l accompaniment, Barrington-Coupe credited Köhler as the conductor, allegedly directing the "National Philharmonic-Symphony" and "Warsaw Philharmonia" orchestras
There is no reason to believe that any such person existed. Details of the biography resemble that of the conductor and composer Stanisław Skrowaczewski, who was born in Poland, had originally trained and performed as a pianist, but suffered from a hand injury during World War II
which left him unable to play.
William Barrington-Coupe
William H. Barrington-Coupe is a British record producer. He attained notoriety in 2007 when he confessed that a large number of piano CDs that he had sold on his Concert Artist/Fidelio Recordings label were not in fact performed by his wife Joyce Hatto but were copies, in some cases digitally...
as part of a fraud in which he passed off numerous plagiarised
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
recordings of classical pianists as the work of his wife, Joyce Hatto
Joyce Hatto
Joyce Hatto was a British pianist and piano teacher. She became famous late in life, when unauthorised copies of commercial recordings made by other pianists were released under her name, earning her high praise from critics. The fraud did not come to light until a few months after her...
.
Alleged biography
William Barrington-Coupe provided a biography of Köhler (who allegedly born in 1926 and died in 2002) to Ateş Orga in which he claimed that Köhler had been a piano pupil of Raoul Koczalski. He was said to have been unable to study at the Polish Conservatoire in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
because of his Jewish faith. Instead he was said to have taken private lessons with Stanisław Spinalski. In 1940, according to the biography provided by Barrington-Coupe, his left hand was crushed irreparably by a young German officer. According to Barrington-Coupe, he survived the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
but in the summer of 1942 was deported to Treblinka concentration camp which he survived - one of only about less than a hundred to do so.
From 1945 to 1970, Barrington-Coupe claimed, he was a prisoner in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
Role in Joyce Hatto affair
Barrington-Coupe issued several recordings of piano music which, he claimed, featured Hatto as the pianist. It is now known that these recordings actually feature the published recordings of other pianists, in some cases digitally manipulated. For those recordings that featured an orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l accompaniment, Barrington-Coupe credited Köhler as the conductor, allegedly directing the "National Philharmonic-Symphony" and "Warsaw Philharmonia" orchestras
There is no reason to believe that any such person existed. Details of the biography resemble that of the conductor and composer Stanisław Skrowaczewski, who was born in Poland, had originally trained and performed as a pianist, but suffered from a hand injury during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
which left him unable to play.