René Köhler was a spurious conductor invented by William Barrington-Coupe as part of a fraud scheme in which he passed off numerous

plagiarised Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of anothe ...

copyrighted

sound recordings Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...

of several classical pianists as the work of his wife,

Joyce Hatto Joyce Hilda Hatto (5 September 1928 – 29 June 2006) was an English concert pianist and piano teacher. In 1956 she married William Barrington-Coupe, a record producer who was convicted of Purchase Tax evasion in 1966. Hatto became famous very ...

False biography

William Barrington-Coupe provided a fictional biography of the non-existent Köhler (allegedly born in 1926 and dying in 2002) to

Ateş Orga Ateş () is a Turkish word of Persian origin meaning "fire", and may refer to: People Given name * Ateş Çınar (born 1986), Turkish yacht racer Surname * Berkay Ateş (born 1987), Turkish actor * Ceyda Ateş (born 1988), Turkish actress * � ...

in which he claimed that Köhler had been a piano pupil of

Raoul Koczalski Raoul Armand Jerzy (von) Koczalski (3 January 1884 – 24 November 1948) was a Polish pianist and composer. He also used the pseudonym Georg Armand(o) Koczalski. Biography Early years Born in Warsaw, Koczalski was taught first by his mother, the ...

. He was said to have been unable to study at the Polish Conservatoire in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

because of his Jewish faith. Instead he was said to have taken private lessons with

Stanisław Spinalski Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

. 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 The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

but in the summer of 1942 was deported to

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

which he survived one of fewer than a hundred to do so. From 1945 to 1970, Barrington-Coupe claimed, Köhler was a prisoner in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 commercial recordings of other pianists, in some cases digitally manipulated. For those recordings that featured an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

l accompaniment, Barrington-Coupe credited Köhler as the conductor, allegedly directing the spurious "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 Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

, 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 or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

which left him unable to play.Biography of Stanisław Skrowaczewski on the Albany Records website
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler, Rene Fictional Holocaust survivors Fictional Jews Fictional musicians Nonexistent people used in hoaxes